First on CNN: DHS inspector general meets with House select committee regarding Secret Service erasi

[TeamProg]

Source: CNN

The Department of Homeland Security inspector general on Friday briefed all nine members of the House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, about the Secret Service erasing text messages from the day of the riot and the day before.

The inspector general, Joseph Cuffari, met with the committee behind closed doors two days after sending a letter to lawmakers informing them that the text messages were erased after the watchdog agency asked for records related to its electronic communications as part of its ongoing investigation around the Capitol attack.

CNN saw Cuffari and every member of the House committee enter a meeting room on Capitol Hill.

The inspector general originally notified the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees in a letter that the text messages were erased from the system as part of a device-replacement program after the watchdog asked the agency for the records.

“First, the Department notified us that many US Secret Service text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021, were erased as part of a device-replacement program. The USSS erased those text messages after OIG requested records of electronic communications from the USSS, as part of our evaluation of events at the Capitol on January 6,” Cuffari stated in the letter.

“Second, DHS personnel have repeatedly told OIG inspectors that they were not permitted to provide records directly to OIG and that such records had to first undergo review by DHS attorneys,” Cuffari added. “This review led to weeks-long delays in OIG obtaining records and created confusion over whether all records had been produced.”

The Secret Service pushed back on the allegations late Thursday night, saying: “The insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/15/politics/homeland-security-inspector-general-deleted-text-message/index.html

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Uh huh..

[MarineCombatEngineer]

1. A top down audit of the Secret Service is sorely needed,

starting with the head honcho all the way down to the lowest employee.

[JHB]

23. Yep. For every

Gary Aldrich or Gary Byrne who writes a bullshit "tell all" book, how many wingnuts are there who just keep their comments clear of public spaces?

(yeah, Aldrich was FBI, but the same applies.)

[peppertree]

2. Easy enough to imagine

[captain queeg]

3. I could see the SS being resistant to political pressure, but the committee is investigating crimes,

[UpInArms]

4. When texts are deleted "after" they have been requested,

It IS malicious

[LizBeth]

6. +1

[cloudboy07]

11. It's called destruction of evidence! cut though the B.S. !

[machoneman]

17. AND A CRIME! No agency, individual, committee, etc. may delete official records under penalty of law

[tecelote]

24. Every device would have had a backup especially before replacing them.

Yes, it IS malicious

[dobleremolque]

5. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Who will guard the guards?

[Kid Berwyn]

7. What a freaky coincidence.

Not.

The Secret Service is a corrupt agency run by traitors.

No wonder Major was growling.

[ShazzieB]

21. That agency could use a good housecleaning!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. This would be a fun meeting to be in

[Botany]

9. " .... were erased as part of a device-replacement program ..."

The USSS erased those text messages after OIG requested records of electronic communications from the USSS, as part of our evaluation of events at the Capitol on January 6,” Cuffari stated in the letter.

snip

The Secret Service pushed back on the allegations late Thursday night, saying: “The insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false.”

It looks like that S.S. started erasing and delegating the messages they were asked to save the 1/7/22.

[Ahna KneeMoose]

15. Well Done (Botany)

Your reference to 'USSS' and then to 'Secret Service' and finally to 'S.S.' has not gone un-noticed.

And was appreciated (by me, and no doubt by others as well).

[Ferrets are Cool]

10. "The USSS erased those text messages 'AFTER' OIG requested records"

Heads need to roll and people need to go to jail.

[jaxexpat]

19. Yep, and the DHS made sure there was a time delay as well.

DHS attorney reads transcripts of USSS texts and sighs, "....just erase them all, we'll either get away with it or we'll all hang."

[cloudboy07]

12. Just imagine if think if average person did this shit ?

[Miguelito Loveless]

13. But are the messages TRULY erased?

There has to be a backup somewhere that still has them. Carriers are VERY cautious about running sequential daily backups of their systems. They have been deleted from the device, but a backup is sitting somewhere in a carrier's off-site storage.

[Cozmo]

14. Isn't there a method by which deleted text messages can be retrieved forensically?

[docgee]

16. I assumed they could subpoena the mobile service records.

[jaxexpat]

18. DHS in cahoots with USSS to withhold evidence. Sound about right. What color is Tom's flag today?

[Paper Roses]

20. B S....n/t

[patphil]

22. We need to hear from the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Why would the OIG not be allowed to directly obtain Secret Service text messages relating to an attack on the Capitol?
And why would it take more than a couple of phone calls to resolve this?

The destruction of government records is a crime. This whole phone replacement stuff is pure BS.
I think we have some Trump loyalists in the Secret Service.
Given this and several other strange happenings in the SS over the past few years require a complete overhaul of their leadership.

[Ford_Prefect]

25. Anyone interested in a bridge I've got? One owner from new. Low, low miles. New Paint.

...Or I've got some very well irrigated vacation property for you.

[majdrfrtim]

26. "The insinuation that the Secret Service . . .

. . . maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false.”

The reason that insinuation is false is that the deletion operation was METICULOUS, not MALICIOUS.

Sheesh.







/snark