A letter sent Wednesday by the Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General to the heads of the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees, obtained by ABC News, said the messages were deleted “as part of a device replacement program” despite inspector general requesting such communications. “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 events on Capitol Hill on January 6,” wrote Joseph Koufari, the inspector general. “Second, DHS staff have repeatedly told OIG inspectors that they are not allowed to provide records directly to OIG and that such records must first be reviewed by DHS attorneys,” Cuffari wrote. “This review led to weeks of delays in obtaining OIG records and created confusion about whether all the records had been created.” A Secret Service agent stands alongside Marine One at Fort McNair in Washington, DC, July 10, 2022. Joshua Roberts/Reuters, FILE U.S. Secret Service Communications Director Anthony Guglielmi said any suggestion that the agency intentionally deleted texts is false in a statement Thursday night. “The suggestion that the Secret Service deleted malicious text messages upon request is false. In fact, the Secret Service is cooperating fully with the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General (DHS OIG) in every aspect – whether it’s interviews, documents, emails or messages,” the statement said. The statement continued that the Secret Service “has begun resetting its cell phones to factory settings as part of a pre-planned, three-month system migration. In that process, data residing on some phones was lost,” and that the DHS OIG first requested electronic communications on February 26, 2021, after the migration began. The agency added that the OIG was made aware of some missing data. The Secret Service also denied the notion that they were not cooperating with the DHS investigation. “In contrast, DHS OIG has previously alleged that its employees were not granted appropriate and timely access to materials due to legal review. DHS has repeatedly and publicly refuted this claim, including in response to the OIG’s last two semiannual reports to Congress. It is unclear why the OIG is raising this issue again,” the statement said. Rob Portman of Ohio, the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said he was “deeply concerned” about the letter. “I am deeply concerned by the letter I received from the DHS Inspector General documenting the Department’s delays in producing materials to the Inspector General and expunging its records following the Inspector General’s requests. It is important that the Department be transparent with its inspector general, Congress and the American public,” he said in a statement. DHS has not yet responded for comment. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the committee chairman, echoed that. A US Secret Service agent stands outside the White House, August 10, 2020. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images, FILE “We need to figure out whether the Secret Service destroyed federal records or the Department of Homeland Security obstructed oversight,” Peters said in a statement. “The DHS Inspector General needs these records to conduct his independent oversight, and the public deserves a full picture of what happened on January 6. I will be learning more from the DHS Inspector General about these allegations.” It’s unclear whether the messages were deleted intentionally or accidentally, though the inspector general’s letter comes as the Secret Service is again under intense scrutiny following hearings by a House committee investigating the insurgency. Recent testimony suggests that former President Donald Trump tried to join his supporters in the Ellipse to Capitol Hill march last year, but was stopped by the Secret Service. The agency has since said it will respond in writing to that testimony.
