Secret Service Deleted Text Messages Before January 6 Riot, Inspector General Says

A letter given to the January 6 committee and obtained by The Intercept noted that the Secret Service deleted text messages before and on the day of the Capitol riot itself.

According to the outlet, the letter was originally sent by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General to the Senate and House Homeland Security committees.

The letter said that the Secret Service deleted text messages from January 5 to January 6, 2021. It noted that the erasure of text messages took place shortly after the January 6 committee requested the agency's electronic communications.

The Secret Service claimed that the text messages were lost due to a "device-replacement program." The federal law enforcement agency has played a key role in the Capitol riot.

Former Vice President Mike Pence was at the Capitol to certify the 2020 election results when the Secret Service tried to take him away from the scene at a time when rioters breached the building.

Pence reportedly told the Secret Service that if he gets in the vehicle, "you guys are taking off."

A congressional official who is unauthorized to speak publicly told The Intercept that the public needs to understand that if Pence had listened to the Secret Service, the situation "could have turned out a whole lot worse." The official noted that it could have been "a successful coup."

Secret Service Deleting Text Messages

DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari said the Secret Service deleted the text messages after the records of electronic communications were requested by the agency's Office of Inspector General as part of their review of events on January 6, according to The Hill report.

Chairman of the House select committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, said they had just received the letter and did not immediately know who erased the messages.

He added that if there is any way that they can reconstruct the text, they will do it. A Secret Service spokesman commented on the matter late Thursday.

In a statement, Anthony Guglielmi, the agency's spokesman, said the insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request was "false."

Guglielmi admitted that several data was lost on mobile phones earlier this year due to a "pre-planned, three-month system migration," but this happened before an inspection had started.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the DHS Office of Inspector General told The Intercept that they do not discuss their ongoing reviews or communications with Congress to "preserve the integrity" of their work.

Secret Service on January 6 Riot

A Washington, D.C. police officer had corroborated details about former President Donald Trump's heated exchange with his Secret Service detail. This happened when Trump was told he could not go to the Capitol after his rally.

A source told CNN that the officer with the Metropolitan Police Department was in the motorcade with the Secret Service for Trump on January 6. The said officer detailed what he had seen to committee investigators.

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson noted that Trump had tried reaching up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel as he was so enraged at his Secret Service detail.

Hutchinson said former White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato had described in conversation with her that the former president then used his free hand to lunge toward his then Secret Service lead agent.

Donald Trump had reportedly grabbed the bodyguard's throat when he learned he was being taken back to the White House instead of to the Capitol to join the mob of his supporters.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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