The Secret Service reportedly erased text messages from January 6 and the day before the attack on the U.S. Capitol after they were requested as part of an investigation into the riots.
The details about the deleted messages were revealed in a letter to two congressional committees Wednesday.
Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari wrote in the letter that he was informed that many of the messages had been erased "as part of a device-replacement program," according to NPR. Many of the messages were deleted after the Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog had requested records of electronic communications tied to the insurrection, he said.
"The Department notified us that many U.S. Secret Service (USSS) text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021, were erased as part of a device-replacement program," Cuffari wrote. "The USSS erased those messages after OIG requested records of electronic communications from the USSS, as part of our evaluation of the events at the Capitol on January 6."
Cuffari went on to say that Homeland Security personnel were told they couldn't provide records to the inspector general and that such records would first have to be reviewed by the department's attorneys.
"This review led to weeks-long delays in OIG obtaining records and created confusion over whether all records had been produced," Cuffari wrote.
Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, called the claims "categorically false."
"The insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false," Guglielmi said in a statement. "In fact, the Secret Service has been fully cooperating with the OIG in every respect – whether it be interviews, documents, emails, or texts."
Guglielmi said the Secret Service began to reset its mobile phones to factory settings "as part of a pre-planned, three-month system migration" in January 2021, more than a month before the inspector general requested any records. In that process, "data resident on some phones was lost," he said, but the agency confirmed with the inspector general "that none of the texts it was seeking had been lost in the migration."
According to NPR, the Secret Service has provided the inspector general with approximately 786,176 unredacted emails and 7,678 team chat messages by Secret Service employees referencing conversations and operational details pertaining to Jan. 6 and preparations leading up to it.
Senator Gary Peters, Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called the allegations concerning.
"We need to get to the bottom of whether the Secret Service destroyed federal records or the Department of Homeland Security obstructed oversight," Peters said in a statement to CBS News. "The DHS Inspector General needs these records to do its independent oversight and the public deserves to have a full picture of what occurred on January 6th. I will be learning more from the DHS Inspector General about these concerning allegations."
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