Secret Service text messages: January 6 committee member says there are still many questions

Washington
CNN
—

A Democratic member of the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol insurgency pointed out Sunday that there are still many unanswered questions about the text messages sent by Secret Service officials on January 5 and 6, 2021.

“You would assume they did everything they could to keep those records, analyze them, determine what kind of things went right or wrong that day, and their practices and procedures. And, you know, we’re looking into that, that’s why we’re subpoenaing them,” Virginia Rep. Elaine Luria told CNN’s Dana Bash on « State of the Union. »

“We want to make sure we get the basics, like, where are those text messages? Can they be recovered? And we subpoenaed them because they are legal documents that we need to see for the committee,” she added.

The comments come as the select committee focuses on erased US Secret Service text messages sent on January 5 and 6, 2021, shortly after they were requested by oversight officials investigating the response of the agency to the U.S. Capitol riot, according to a letter given to the committee on Jan. 6 and first obtained by CNN.

Luria was referring to a committee subpoena to the Secret Service — the first time the panel has done so publicly for an executive branch agency.

The letter, which was originally sent to the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees by the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General, says the text messages were wiped from the system as part of a program to replacing devices after the watchdog asked the agency for records related to its electronic communications.

While the letter does not say whether the DHS watchdog believes these text messages were deleted intentionally or for some nefarious reason, the incident adds to growing questions about the Secret Service’s response to the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.

The Secret Service has been in the spotlight since witnesses described how former President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 angrily demanded his details take him to the Capitol after his speech at the Ellipse – shortly time before rioters entered the building.