US Secret Service deleted text messages wanted on Jan 6 Capitol riot probe – Watchdog says, #US #Secret #Service #deleted #text #messages #sought #January #Capitol #riot #probe #Watchdog Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
The U.S. Secret Service deleted text messages dated January 5 and 6, 2021 after they were requested by Congressional oversight officials investigating the agency’s response to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, the agency watchdog claimed.
Representatives and Senate homeland security committees investigating the Jan. 6 events, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general said “many” messages had been erased by the Secret Service with a device replacement program after the watchdog had asked for the registers.
It was not clear from the letter which messages the Inspector General’s office said had been removed or what evidence they would contain.
After the letter was published on Thursday, Bennie Thompson, who chairs both the congressional panel investigating the Capitol attack and the House Homeland Security Committee, told the Axios news website that the alleged removal was “concerning.”
“If there’s a way to reconstruct the lyrics or whatever, we’ll do it,” Thompson said.
The Secret Service has now disputed that allegation, saying some phone data was lost during a routine device migration, but all requested texts were saved.
In a lengthy statement issued in response to the allegations, a Secret Service spokesman said the agency had cooperated “fully” with the Inspector General’s office.
“DHS OIG first applied for electronic communications on February 26, 2021, after the migration got underway,” said Anthony Guglielmi, Secret Service spokesman.
“The Secret Service has notified DHS OIG of the loss of data from certain phones, but confirmed to OIG that none of the texts it sought were lost during the migration.”
Guglielmi said that despite the claims made by the Inspector General’s office, his employees had been given “appropriate and timely access” to the material.
The January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol followed weeks of false claims by Trump that he had won the 2020 election. On Tuesday, lawmakers from the House panel investigating the attack accused Trump of inciting violence in a bid to stay in power after losing the election.