Secret Service agents deleted text messages sent and received surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, even after an inspector general requested them as part of an investigation into the insurgency, the government watchdog found. The Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General, in a letter obtained by The Associated Press, said the messages between Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, were deleted “as part of a device replacement program.” The deletion came after the watchdog’s office requested records of electronic communications between agents as part of its investigation into the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack. In addition, Homeland Security personnel were told they could not provide records to the inspector general and any such records would first have to be reviewed by DHS attorneys. “This review led to weeks of delays in obtaining OIG records and created confusion about whether all records had been created,” said the letter, which was dated Wednesday and sent to the leaders of the House and Senate Homeland Security committees. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said: “We strongly disagree with these categorically false allegations and will respond in detail shortly.” The deletion of the messages is sure to raise new questions for the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack, which has renewed interest in the Secret Service after former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s dramatic testimony about its actions former President Donald Trump. day of the uprising. Hutchinson recalled being told of a confrontation between Trump and his Secret Service as he angrily demanded to be taken to the Capitol, where his supporters would later breach the building. He also recalled hearing Trump tell security officials to remove the magnetometers for his Ellipse rally, even though some of his supporters were armed. This account, however, was quickly disputed by these agents. Robert Engel, the agent who drove the presidential SUV, and Trump’s security official, Tony Ornato, are willing to testify under oath that no agent was attacked and that Trump never fell behind the wheel, a person familiar with the matter told the AP. theme. The person would not discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The deletion of the text messages was first reported by The Intercept. —— Associated Press reporter Mike Balsamo contributed to this report.
