“First, the Department informed us that several US Secret Service text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021, were deleted as part of a device replacement program. The USSS deleted these text messages after the OIG requested electronic communications records from the USSS, as part of the assessment of the events on Capitol Hill on January 6,” the letter from DHS IG Joseph Cuffari said. “Second, DHS staff have repeatedly told OIG inspectors that they were not permitted to provide records directly to OIG and that such records must first be reviewed by DHS attorneys,” Cuffari added. “This review led to weeks of delays in obtaining OIG records and created confusion about whether all the records had been created.” The U.S. Secret Service and Homeland Security inspector general did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. The House Select Committee declined to comment. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, chairs both the House Homeland Security and January 6 committees. While the letter does not say whether the DHS watchdog believes those text messages were deleted intentionally or for a malicious reason, the incident adds to growing questions about the Secret Service’s response to the attack on the US Capitol. The Secret Service has been in the spotlight since witnesses described how former President Donald Trump angrily demanded to be taken to Capitol Hill after his speech on the White House Ellipse — just before rioters breached the building. A former adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence also referred to the Secret Service in his testimony. Greg Jacobs, a former adviser to Pence, told the panel that Pence refused to get into the vice presidential vehicle after evacuating the Capitol, raising concerns that the driver would have taken him to a safe location and thus prevent him from certifying the election results . More than a year after the uprising, the Homeland Security inspector general of the Secret Service and its actions on Jan. 6 remains ongoing. This story has been updated with additional developments on Thursday. CNN’s Whitney Wild and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.
