In news that will further muddy the already mucky waters of the investigation into the riot and breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the New York Post reports that the cellphones of 24 Secret Service Agents responding to the riot were seized and have been in possession of an inspector general for months.
President Joe Biden referred to the Jan. 6 event as the “worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”
Reportedly, the phones were seized last summer on orders of the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, according to a new report noted in the New York Post.
NBC News reports the phones were “handed over to DHS watchdog Joseph Cuffari” in July as his office was launching a probe into “missing text messages from the agents’ work-issued phones.”
The report does not indicate what, if any, new information was obtained from the phones but notes that Secret Service agents were upset their phones were seized “without their input.”
In July, Cuffari informed lawmakers that messages sent on Jan. 5-6 by Secret Service agents responding to the Jan. 6 protest and breach of the Capitol had been erased.
This frustrated Cuffari, whose office claims the messages were erased after DHS officials requested agent communication records from Dec. 2020-Jan. 2021.
Strangely, the Secret Service said messages for Jan. 5-6 were erased as part of a “previously planned systems upgrade that essentially restored the phones to factory settings.”
Cuffari cites several reports noting that Congress instructed the agency to preserve all records pertaining to the Jan. 6 event. Congress reportedly issued specific instructions on this matter on Jan. 16, 2021, and Jan. 25, 2021.
To date, the Secret Service agency has released just one text exchange pertaining to the Jan. 6 event. The messaging was from then-U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund and then-Secret Service Uniformed Division Chief Thomas Sullivan.
The fact that the agency is accused of destroying evidence and obstructing justice and a White House aide (Cassidy Hutchinson) is accused of presenting false testimony before the Jan. 6 Committee — a committee that is accused of being a “Soviet-style sham” — has led some to question the integrity of America’s justice system.
The new revelation that Cuffari has been in possession of two dozen seized Secret Service Agent phones since July raises new questions as the Jan. 6 Committee prepares to host their final hearing tonight.
The New York Post noted that the inspector general previously faced calls to recuse himself from the investigation by Democratic leaders of the House and Homeland Security and Oversight committees. House members accused him of “lack of transparency and independence.” Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) claim Cuffari’s office “may have stopped looking for the texts last year.”
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