‘Potential Unauthorized Deletion’ of Secret Service Jan. 6 Texts Prompts Probe Request
The U.S. National Archives on Tuesday asked the Secret Service to investigate the “potential unauthorized deletion” of agents’ text messages sent the day of and before the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.
“If it is determined that any text messages have been improperly deleted… then the Secret Service must send NARA a report within 30 calendar days of the date of this letter with a report documenting the deletion,” U.S. Chief Records Officer Laurence Brewer informed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) records officer, referring to the National Archives and Records Administration.
“This report must include a complete description of the records affected, a statement of the exact circumstances surrounding the deletion of messages, a statement of the safeguards established to prevent further loss of documentation, and details of all agency actions taken to salvage, retrieve, or reconstruct the records,” he added.
Brewer’s request followed the news that the Secret Service will inform the congressional committee investigating the Capitol attack that it has found no new text messages related to the deadly insurrection. The House committee subpoenaed the Secret Service on Friday as part of the bipartisan panel’s effort to recover text messages that were deleted shortly after oversight officials requested them.
Alleging that the Secret Service “appears to have violated federal criminal law by destroying text messages” around the time of the Capitol attack, the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) on Monday filed a complaint asking the U.S. Justice Department to launch “an immediate and full investigation into whether Secret Service employees willfully destroyed federal records.”
“The Federal Records Act requires that agencies like the Secret Service preserve records so that there is a complete and accurate history of the government’s actions and decisions,” he continued. “It is especially distressing to see such behavior from a federal agency that had such critical duties during the attack on the Capitol and had a front row seat to former President Trump’s behavior that day.”
Appearing on ABC‘s “This Week” Sunday, January 6 committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said that “we need all of the texts from the fifth and sixth of January.”
Originally published at Commondreams.org.
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