Secret Service deleted text messages ahead of Jan. 6 riot, says IG

The Hill ^ | 07/14/22 6:04 PM ET | BY CAROLINE VAKIL AND REBECCA BEITSCH -

[RandFan]

The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notified lawmakers that the U.S. Secret Service had deleted text messages on Jan. 5, 2021 and on the day of the Capitol riot itself after they had been formally requested by investigators.

DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari wrote in a letter addressed to House and Senate Homeland Security committees, which was given to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol rioting, that text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021 had been “erased as part of a device-replacement program,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Hill and first reported by The Intercept.

“The USSS erased those text messages after OIG requested records of electronic communications from the USSS, as part of our evaluation of events at the Capitol on January 6,” Cuffari continued.

The letter said DHS officials had told the OIG that the could not provide records directly to the inspector general until they were reviewed by lawyers.

“Second, DHS personnel have repeatedly told OIG inspectors that they were not permitted to provide records directly to OIG and that such records had to first undergo review by DHS attorneys. This review led to weeks-long delays in OIG obtaining records and created confusion over whether all records had been produced,” he added.

[taxcontrol]

The cover up continues.

[Carriage Hill]

You got that right.

[The_Media_never_lie]

The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notified lawmakers that the U.S. Secret Service had deleted text messages on Jan. 5, 2021 and on the day of the Capitol riot itself after they had been formally requested by investigators.

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FU, investigators. We bigger than you are.

[gitmo]

“You mean, like wiped with a cloth?”

Seems like we’ve been here before.

[Mr. N. Wolfe]

Zero accountability.

[TornadoAlley3]

They have ways to retrieve them. If they want them exposed.

[RandFan]

UNDelete its called

[ClearCase_guy]

Bfl

[M_Continuum]

Getting phone/text message is a simple process. Secret Service even easier. What a load.

[God luvs America]

gee....why would they do such a thing??

[Pollard]

oopsie

[Nifster]

Indeed

[Pollard]

[rfreedom4u]

And Hildabeast deleted many thousands of emails.....

[Pilgrim's Progress]

What would happen if a Republican destroyed official gubmint records constituting evidence in an investigation? Yea, prolly nothing.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Do they have the video?

[ncfool]

The cover-up is generally worse of the crime. Will somebody be held accountable. Who gave the order? Was it Nancy Pelosi?

[Chewbarkah]

I’m confounded by The Hill’s dismal writing. Is the accusation really that SS members physically deleted messages on Jan 5 and Jan 6, 2021?

Or, did SS members send or receive messages on Jan 5 and Jan 6, 2021, then delete them on some subsequent date?

The implications of the first (which is how the article is written) versus the second are significant, though either one could be a red herring.

[AnthonySoprano]

The FBi, Mueller and Weismann did it, and no one cared.