The Home choose Jan. 6 committee met Friday morning with DHS Inspector Basic Joseph Cuffari about erased Secret Service textual content messages from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, a number of members of the panel advised CBS Information.
Cuffari despatched a letter to the Home and Senate Homeland Safety Committees earlier this week saying that the Secret Service had wiped textual content messages from these two days as a part of a "device-replacement program" shortly after the inspector basic's workplace requested the data.
He additionally advised Congress within the letter that DHS personnel "repeatedly advised OIG inspectors that they weren't permitted to offer data on to OIG and that such data needed to first endure overview by DHS attorneys." The overview "led to weeks-long delays in OIG acquiring data and created confusion over whether or not all data had been produced."
Choose committee Chair Bennie Thompson mentioned the panel met Thursday evening and determined to ask Cuffari to satisfy with them.
"We wished to get the IGs perspective on what he thought was occurring," Thompson mentioned. "So we met, they usually shared that with us." Rep. Elaine Luria, who sits on the panel, that the assembly was the "first step" within the committee's efforts to probe "extra deeply" the considerations Cuffari had specified by his letter. Thompson mentioned the committee has already had "restricted engagement" with the Secret Service and can "comply with up with some extra engagement, now that we have met with the IG."
Thompson mentioned the Secret Service has "not been absolutely cooperating" with the inspector basic's workplace, however that the committee continues to be focused on acquiring the lacking texts from Jan. 5-6, 2021. "The communications throughout the Secret Service, who was defending the president and vp on the essential time on Jan. 6 when the violence broke out, that is of the utmost curiosity to the committee," Luria mentioned.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, who additionally sits on the committee, mentioned the panel will proceed to work to acquire the lacking messages.
"We're decided to get well and retrieve all the texts which were misplaced," he mentioned.