SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
January 6 committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) sent a letter on July 15, 2022 to the head of the U.S. Secret Service informing the agency it was being subpoenaed in connection with deleted text messages related to the deadly 2021 attack on the Capitol. (Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol subpoenaed the U.S. Secret Service Friday evening as the panel attempts to recover text messages that were deleted shortly after oversight officials requested them.
"The committee is absolutely determined to get to the bottom of this and to find all of the missing texts," Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the panel, told reporters Friday. "They are missing, but in the age of high technology, we should not give up."
In a letter to United States Secret Service (USSS) Director James Murray, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote that the House committee "has been informed that the USSS erased text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021 as part of a 'device-replacement program.'"
The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) had requested Secret Service electronic communications records as part of an assessment of the deadly insurrection by supporters of then-President Donald Trump and his "Big Lie" that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen."
In a Wednesday letter, the DHS OIG revealed that Secret Service officials deleted the messages "after OIG requested records of electronic communications."
Thompson's letter continued:
In a statement issued July 14, 2022, the USSS stated that it "began to reset its mobile phones to factory settings as part of a pre-planned, three-month system migration. In that process, data resident on some phones was lost."
However, according to that USSS statement, "none of the texts it [DHS Office of Inspector General] was seeking had been lost in the migration."
Accordingly, the Select Committee seeks the relevant text messages, as well as any after action reports that have been issued in any and all divisions of the USSS pertaining or relating in any way to the events of January 6, 2021.
The congressional panel believes the deleted texts could offer insight into the actions of Secret Service agents and possibly also Trump on the day the Capitol was stormed.
Thompson told reporters Friday that Secret Service agents "were positioned to secure the vice president [and] the president, and we just need to know all the available information from all the sources as to what happened."
The committee chair added that the panel is attempting to "ascertain if those texts can be resurrected."
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
The congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol subpoenaed the U.S. Secret Service Friday evening as the panel attempts to recover text messages that were deleted shortly after oversight officials requested them.
"The committee is absolutely determined to get to the bottom of this and to find all of the missing texts," Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the panel, told reporters Friday. "They are missing, but in the age of high technology, we should not give up."
In a letter to United States Secret Service (USSS) Director James Murray, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote that the House committee "has been informed that the USSS erased text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021 as part of a 'device-replacement program.'"
The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) had requested Secret Service electronic communications records as part of an assessment of the deadly insurrection by supporters of then-President Donald Trump and his "Big Lie" that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen."
In a Wednesday letter, the DHS OIG revealed that Secret Service officials deleted the messages "after OIG requested records of electronic communications."
Thompson's letter continued:
In a statement issued July 14, 2022, the USSS stated that it "began to reset its mobile phones to factory settings as part of a pre-planned, three-month system migration. In that process, data resident on some phones was lost."
However, according to that USSS statement, "none of the texts it [DHS Office of Inspector General] was seeking had been lost in the migration."
Accordingly, the Select Committee seeks the relevant text messages, as well as any after action reports that have been issued in any and all divisions of the USSS pertaining or relating in any way to the events of January 6, 2021.
The congressional panel believes the deleted texts could offer insight into the actions of Secret Service agents and possibly also Trump on the day the Capitol was stormed.
Thompson told reporters Friday that Secret Service agents "were positioned to secure the vice president [and] the president, and we just need to know all the available information from all the sources as to what happened."
The committee chair added that the panel is attempting to "ascertain if those texts can be resurrected."
The congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol subpoenaed the U.S. Secret Service Friday evening as the panel attempts to recover text messages that were deleted shortly after oversight officials requested them.
"The committee is absolutely determined to get to the bottom of this and to find all of the missing texts," Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the panel, told reporters Friday. "They are missing, but in the age of high technology, we should not give up."
In a letter to United States Secret Service (USSS) Director James Murray, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote that the House committee "has been informed that the USSS erased text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021 as part of a 'device-replacement program.'"
The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) had requested Secret Service electronic communications records as part of an assessment of the deadly insurrection by supporters of then-President Donald Trump and his "Big Lie" that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen."
In a Wednesday letter, the DHS OIG revealed that Secret Service officials deleted the messages "after OIG requested records of electronic communications."
Thompson's letter continued:
In a statement issued July 14, 2022, the USSS stated that it "began to reset its mobile phones to factory settings as part of a pre-planned, three-month system migration. In that process, data resident on some phones was lost."
However, according to that USSS statement, "none of the texts it [DHS Office of Inspector General] was seeking had been lost in the migration."
Accordingly, the Select Committee seeks the relevant text messages, as well as any after action reports that have been issued in any and all divisions of the USSS pertaining or relating in any way to the events of January 6, 2021.
The congressional panel believes the deleted texts could offer insight into the actions of Secret Service agents and possibly also Trump on the day the Capitol was stormed.
Thompson told reporters Friday that Secret Service agents "were positioned to secure the vice president [and] the president, and we just need to know all the available information from all the sources as to what happened."
The committee chair added that the panel is attempting to "ascertain if those texts can be resurrected."