The Secret Service has lost text messages sent during the storming of the US Capitol due to a “device replacement program.” The competent investigative committee is concerned whether this could have been intentional.
The Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the US President, has deleted text messages from its agents in connection with the Capitol storming in January 2021, according to a government official. Many text messages sent just before and during the riots were “deleted as part of a device replacement program,” Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari wrote in a letter to Congress.
SMS deleted after request
The messages were deleted after his office requested records of electronic communications surrounding Jan. 6, the letter said, which was addressed to Capitol Storm Inquiry Committee Chair Bennie Thompson, among others.
It’s unclear if the messages were intentionally removed to cover up something. However, the Secret Service rejected this: “The allegation that the secret service maliciously deleted messages on request is wrong,” it said in a statement. Rather, the secret service had cooperated fully with the Department of Homeland Security. The data was lost in a previously planned exchange in January 2021 because cell phones were factory reset. However, the ministry did not request data until February 26 – weeks after the replacement of the devices had begun.
“The committee will be made aware of this extremely worrying destruction of records and will respond accordingly,” CNN quoted Thompson as saying. The committee is to clarify the background to the events surrounding January 6, 2021. Inspector General Cuffari also criticized the Secret Service for delaying the provision of other documents.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi denied the allegations. The cellphones of the bodyguards were wiped as part of a planned exchange program that began before the Department of Homeland Security requested the information six weeks after the riots. Certain phone data was lost, but “none of the text messages you were looking for”.
Capitol Storm black day in history
Hundreds of supporters of the then US President Donald Trump violently stormed the seat of parliament in the capital Washington on January 6th. Congress met there to certify the victory of his Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the presidential election. The storming of the Capitol with five dead is considered a black day in the history of US democracy.
The committee is now working on the attack. In recent weeks there have been numerous public hearings at which Trump has been heavily incriminated.
The Secret Service was recently in focus after testimony from a former White House employee. Cassidy Hutchinson said Trump allegedly angrily demanded that his top Secret Service bodyguards drive him to the Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump then denounced Hutchinson as a “crazy” and rejected the allegations. According to CNN, a police officer from the US capital Washington is said to have confirmed some of Hutchinson’s statements.
Is Donald Trump facing impeachment?
According to the Wall Street Journal, the committee is considering subpoenaing Trump. Committee member Adam Kinzinger expects the panel to recommend that the Justice Department prosecute the former president. The Committee itself cannot take legal action.
Source: Stern
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