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Showing Original Post only (View all)First on CNN: DHS inspector general meets with House select committee regarding Secret Service erasi [View all]
Source: CNN
The Department of Homeland Security inspector general on Friday briefed all nine members of the House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, about the Secret Service erasing text messages from the day of the riot and the day before.
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.
CNN saw Cuffari and every member of the House committee enter a meeting room on Capitol Hill.
The inspector general originally notified the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees in a letter that the text messages were erased from the system as part of a device-replacement program after the watchdog asked the agency for the records.
First, the Department notified us that many US Secret Service text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021, were erased as part of a device-replacement program. The USSS erased those text messages after OIG requested records of electronic communications from the USSS, as part of our evaluation of events at the Capitol on January 6, Cuffari stated in the letter.
Second, DHS personnel have repeatedly told OIG inspectors that they were not permitted to provide records directly to OIG and that such records had to first undergo review by DHS attorneys, Cuffari added. This review led to weeks-long delays in OIG obtaining records and created confusion over whether all records had been produced.
The Secret Service pushed back on the allegations late Thursday night, saying: The insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/15/politics/homeland-security-inspector-general-deleted-text-message/index.html
Uh huh..