House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney and House Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson, who also chairs the House Jan. 6 committee, wrote to DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari on Tuesday , telling him that he did not tell Congress that the Secret Service was not providing “issued” records. serious doubt about his independence and his ability to carry out such an important investigation.”
“These omissions left Congress in the dark about key developments in this investigation and may have cost investigators valuable time to capture relevant evidence,” the Democrats wrote. “There is no question that the Inspector General leading this investigation can conduct it thoroughly and with integrity, objectivity and independence. We have no confidence that Inspector General Cuffari can meet those standards.”
In the letter, the lawmakers wrote that the inspector general told Congress in November 2021 that DHS “significantly delayed” access to records related to the Jan. 6 review, but that the inspector general did not he said the secret service was the reason. Additionally, Cuffari was informed in December 2021 that text messages “sent and received by Secret Service agents related to the events of January 6 had been deleted,” Maloney and Thompson wrote.
“However, Inspector General Cuffari took no action to inform Congress of this egregious and egregious violation of federal records laws,” the lawmakers said. “The DHS IG’s failure to promptly report and escalate the Secret Service’s duty calls into question whether Inspector General Cuffari has the professional judgment and ability to effectively perform his duties in this investigation.”
The Democrats’ letter underscores tensions between the inspector general and Democratic committees after the Secret Service text message leaked two weeks ago. A House select committee has since issued a subpoena to the Secret Service over the texts, but the inspector general ordered the agency to halt its own investigation because of the “ongoing criminal investigation” of the inspector general.
CNN has reached out to the inspector general’s office for comment.
On July 14, Cuffari told the House and Senate Homeland Security committees that DHS “notified us that many US Secret Service text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021 were deleted as part of of a device replacement program.”
The next day, Cuffari briefed the House select committee, and the panel issued a subpoena shortly thereafter for Secret Service records.
Cuffari was appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2019 to lead the DHS Office of Inspector General, and faced criticism when in 2020 he chose not to investigate the appointments of top DHS officials serving in the Trump administration. Cuffari is also the subject of an investigation led by the Council of Inspectors General for Integrity and Effectiveness (CIGIE), a federal government umbrella group tasked with reporting on allegations made against an inspector general. The investigation stems from allegations of retaliation related to the authorization of an independent report by law firm WilmerHale that was concluded in late 2020 following complaints of unprofessional behavior by several senior Homeland Security officials.
In late 2020, WilmerHale completed its independent investigation into allegations that several senior employees engaged in a variety of unprofessional behavior “that was designed to undermine and contravene the authority of the two inspectors general (IG) to whom they reported to DHS OIG from late 2017. through 2020.”
Maloney and Thompson sent their letter Tuesday to Cuffari and Allison Lerner, who chairs the inspector general’s umbrella group.
The Democratic chairmen added that it was “not the first time” that Cuffari was unwilling to investigate the agency.
“Inspector General Cuffari previously reportedly refused to investigate the Secret Service’s actions regarding excessive use of force, as well as its protocols on protecting officials during the coronavirus pandemic, contradicting the recommendations of the DHS OIG career,” they wrote.