Secret Service Deleted Texts from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, Blames ‘Device-Replacement Program’
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Text messages sent between U.S. Secret Service agents on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 2021 were deleted in what has been called a pre-planned “device-replacement program.”
Ken Klippenstein of The Intercept reported messages from the agency were requested by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Lawmakers were informed the messages had been erased
Klippenstein reported:
The Secret Service erased text messages from January 5 and January 6, 2021, according to a letter given to the January 6 committee and reviewed by The Intercept. The letter was originally sent by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General to the House and Senate homeland security committees.
The messages, sought by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, are gone forever amid the ongoing probe into ransacking of the Capitol.
CNN reported:
The letter, which was originally sent to the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees by the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General, says the messages were erased from the system as part of a device-replacement program after the watchdog asked the agency for records related to its electronic communications.
Committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) confirmed he had received the letter.
“The Committee on Homeland Security received a letter from the DHS Inspector General regarding the Secret Service deleting text messages the Office of Inspector General requested as part of its investigation into the January 6th attack on the Capitol,” Thompson said. “The Committee will be briefed about this extraordinarily troubling destruction of records and respond accordingly.”
Lawmakers at this point do not have reason to believe the messages were deleted as part of a scheme to hide anything.
The Secret Service was instrumental in securing former Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, and prevented former President Donald Trump from going to the Capitol before that became a riot, per reports.
The letter can be read in its entirety here.
UPDATE:
The Secret Service issued a statement Thursday evening which challenged a notion it “maliciously deleted text messages.”
The agency added, “DHS has repeatedly and publicly debunked this allegation, including in response to OIG’s last two semi-annual reports to Congress. It is unclear why OIG is raising this issue again.”
Read the entire statement here.
