Text messages between members of the Secret Service sent the day before and the day of the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol have been subpoenaed by the committee of elected officials investigating the insurrection. This development comes after the Department of Homeland Security had said last week that the texts were deleted. We’re now learning that those messages will be sent to the committee by Tuesday.
The January 6th riots saw many moving parts in the failed attempt by Trump followers, Proud Boys, and other far-right organisations to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election. As lawmakers continue their investigation into what happened that day and the series of events leading up to January 6, their attention has now turned to the Secret Service, and the committee has subpoenaed a barrage of text messages between members of the Secret Service. Last week the Intercept reviewed a letter sent by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General to committee members, that said the texts were deleted.
“The Secret Service was aware that this was one of the signature events of our country, and that there would be a need to preserve all of the evidence because of that, and also there’s an obligation for federal agencies to retain records,” said Representative Zoe Lofgren to the Hill. Lofrgren is a member of the Select Committee and a Democratic Representative from California. “So, this is troubling, but they said they’ve got the texts and the Committee intends to get them all ASAP.”
The Intercept said that Secret Service originally claimed that the text messages were deleted as a part of a “device-replacement program.” However, the letter goes on to say that the text messages were erased after the Office of the Inspector General requested them as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s own investigation into the January 6th Insurrection.
The content of the text messages themselves is unknown, but given the proximity between the Secret Service and POTUS, the messages will likely illuminate the actions of former president Trump in the moments leading up to and during the January 6th Insurrection, potentially lending credence to Cassidy Hutchinson’s bombshell testimony last month.