Members of the U.S. Secret Service deleted text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021, shortly after the Department of Homeland Security inspector general requested them as part of an investigation into the response of the U.S. agency in the assault on the United States Capitol, he reported. a letter written by the inspector general to congressional leaders and obtained by CBS News.
In a letter sent to the House and Senate National Security Committees, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari wrote that although his office had been notified that the texts had been deleted as part of ‘a device replacement program, the deletion of the devices occurred after a request for electronic communications. .
“First, the Department notified us that many U.S. Secret Service text messages on January 5 and 6, 2021 were deleted as part of a device replacement program. The USSS deleted these messages. of text after the OIG requested records of electronic communications from the USSS, as part of our assessment of the events at the Capitol on January 6, ”Cuffari wrote in the letter.
“Second, DHS staff has repeatedly told IGO inspectors that they were not allowed to provide records directly to the OIG and that those records should be reviewed first by DHS attorneys,” the letter continued. . “This review caused delays of weeks in obtaining IGO records and created confusion about whether all records had occurred.”
U.S. Secret Service spokesman Steve Kopek called the hint that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request from the DHS inspector general in a statement “false.” on Thursday afternoon, and added that the agency has been “fully cooperating with the OIG in all cases.” respect, whether interviews, documents, emails or texts “.
“First, in January 2021, before the OIG opened any inspections on this issue, the USSS began resetting its mobile phones to factory settings as part of a previously planned system migration of three months.In this process, data residing on some phones was lost, “the statement continued.
“DHS OIG first requested electronic communications on February 26, 2021, after the migration was underway. The Secret Service notified DHS OIG of the loss of data from certain phones, but confirmed to the I heard that none of the text messages I was looking for had been lost in the migration “.
According to Kopek, the inspector general’s insistence that his employees were not granted “adequate and timely access to the materials due to the lawyer’s review,” has been “publicly and repeatedly denied” in previous reports. in Congress. “It is not clear why the OIG is raising this issue again,” he added.
But the agency did not respond to the inspector general’s claim that some of the messages from USSS agents had been deleted during the migration.
The agency said the Secret Service delivered 786,176 unwritten emails and 7,678 Microsoft Teams chat messages to the DHS inspector general, referring to conversations and operational details related to Jan. 6 and preparations that they were taken there. These messages include text messages from U.S. Capitol police to the head of the Uniform Division of the Secret Service calling for emergency assistance to the Capitol.
The select committee of the House investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol declined to comment. The DHS inspector general’s office did not immediately respond to a request from CBS News.
“We need to get to the bottom of whether the Secret Service destroyed federal records or the Department of Homeland Security obstructed oversight,” said Senator Gary Peters, chairman of the National Security and Government Affairs Committee. “The DHS inspector general needs these records to do his independent oversight and the public deserves a full picture of what happened on January 6. We will learn more from the DHS inspector general about these related allegations.”
Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, said he is “deeply concerned” about the letter, in a statement to CBS News. “It is essential that the Department be transparent with its Inspector General, Congress and the American public,” Portman added.
Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, who chairs both the House National Security Committee and the Jan. 6 committee, said the former “will be informed of this extraordinarily worrying destruction of records and will respond accordingly,” in a statement to CBS News.
The news of the agency’s alleged efforts to wipe out communications comes just a week after U.S. Secret Service Director James Murray announced his retirement. The 32-year veteran of the federal government is scheduled to leave in late July.
The letter does not say whether DHS’s top watchdog believes electronic communications were intentionally suppressed in an effort to evade transparency, but adds to the uncertainty surrounding the Secret Service’s response to the Jan. 6 insurgency.
Last month, White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described former President Trump’s desire to go to the Capitol with his supporters as Congress met in a joint ballot count session, during a January 6 Committee hearing.
Hutchinson testified that he had spoken with White House Chief of Staff for Operations Tony Ornato in a room with Robert Engel, the Secret Service special agent in charge on Jan. 6. According to Hutchinson, during the meeting, Ornato conveyed that the president became “angry” at his vehicle when he was told he could not go to the Capitol. He said something to the effect of “I’m the damn president, take me to the Capitol now,” Hutchinson said. Intercept was the first to report the letter from the DHS inspector general.
When he was told he had to return to the west wing, Trump reached the front of the vehicle to grab the steering wheel, and caused Engel to grab his arm, Hutchinson said Ornato told him.
But a source close to the Secret Service confirmed to CBS News that Engel and the driver are willing to testify under oath that neither man was physically assaulted or assaulted by Trump and that the former president never threw himself behind the wheel of the vehicle. .
Following Hutchinson’s testimony, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the agency “has been cooperating” with the committee and will “continue to do so, even responding in minutes … about the new allegations.” “which arose in the audience.
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Nicole Sganga
CBS News reporter covering national security and justice.