Earlier this month, Secret Service officials told congressional committees that DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, the department’s independent watchdog, was aware that texts had been erased in December 2021. But sources tell CNN, the Secret Service had notified Cuffari’s office of missing text messages in May 2021, seven months earlier. […]
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DHS inspector general tells Secret Service to stop investigating potentially missing texts
“This is to notify you that the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General has an ongoing investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the collection and preservation of evidence by the United States Secret Service as it relates to the events of January 6, 2021,” DHS Deputy Inspector […]
DHS inspector general opens criminal probe into deleted Secret Service texts
The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general has turned the inquiry into the Secret Service deleted text messages into a criminal investigation, three sources familiar with the situation confirmed to ABC News Thursday. The inspector general sent a letter to the Secret Service Wednesday night telling the agency to halt […]
House Jan. 6 committee received only one text message from Secret Service
Washington — Secret Service text messages from around the time of the attack on the U.S. Capitol were deleted despite requests from Congress and federal investigators that they be preserved, the agency confirmed Tuesday in response to a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 committee. But Jan. 6 committee staff said […]
U.S. Secret Service members erased text messages from Jan. 5-6 after messages were requested, says watchdog
Members of the U.S. Secret Service erased text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, shortly after the Department of Homeland Security inspector general requested them as part of an investigation into the agency’s response to the assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to a letter written by the […]
DHS inspector general tells Jan. 6 panel he went to Mayorkas about Secret Service cooperation
The inspector general, Joseph Cuffari, met with the committee behind closed doors two days after sending a letter to lawmakers informing them that the text messages were erased after the watchdog agency asked for records related to its electronic communications as part of its ongoing investigation around the Capitol attack. […]