The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General has accused the Secret Service of deleting text messages from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, around the pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The watchdog said in a letter to the Senate and House Homeland Security Committees that the texts were erased after the Inspector General requested the Secret Service’s communications surrounding the Capitol riot.
The letter was first reported by The Intercept Thursday. The outlet said it was not clear from the letter whether some or all of the agency’s texts from the two days were deleted.
The Secret Service said on Friday that the deletion was due to a pre-planned system migration in which the agency’s mobile phones had to be reset to factory settings.