This is how Secret Service text messages are one of the key questions as a House committee prepares for the next phase of its investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. It is a timeline of how it became.
It is not yet known if the Secret Service received any guidance. A source familiar with the investigation told CNN that the Secret Service tried to find it last week, but was unsuccessful.
January 25, 2021: The Secret Service “taught employees how to store the contents of their phones” and informed them that a pre-planned data migration would wipe their phones.
letter The Secret Service was sent to the House of Representatives Select Committee on July 19, 2022. An internal Secret Service notice clarified that employees are responsible for preserving records that must be preserved by law.
January 27, 2021: The move to Microsoft Intune phones is starting, according to a July 19 letter from the agency to the House Select Committee.
February 26, 2021: According to DHS spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari has requested electronic communications from the Secret Service for the first time. “DHS OIG requested electronic communication for the first time on February 26, 2021 after the transition went smoothly. I have confirmed that none of the .
March 25, 2021: Speaker of the House
send a letter To the White House and numerous federal agencies seeking documents and communications related to the Jan. 6 attacks. Among the agencies that receive letters is the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service.
April 1, 2021: According to the agency’s letter, the Intune migration is complete.
May 2021: The Secret Service has notified the DHS Inspector General that text messages related to phone data migration issues were not found, according to sources.agency says Cuffari’s office, the Secret Service, contacted the cellular provider to try and retrieve the text when it realized it was missing, sources told CNN.
A key Secret Service official mistakenly believed the data was backed up and didn’t realize it was completely lost until the data migration was complete, sources said. .
June 11, 2021: The DHS Inspector General has requested text messages “sent and received by 24 Secret Service personnel between December 7, 2020 and January 8, 2021.” CNN previously reported that the person responsible for Trump and Pence’s security details is among her 24.
The Secret Service responded to the request by sending
single text messageThe message was from former Capitol Police Chief Stephen Sand to former Secret Service uniforms chief Thomas Sullivan on January 6, asking for help.
July 2021: The DHS Deputy Inspector General has told DHS that the Office of the Inspector General no longer wants text messages from the Secret Service, according to two sources.
December 2021: DHS Inspector General reopens investigation into Secret Service text messages. House Oversight Committee Chairman Carolyn Maloney and Homeland Security Chairman Benny Thompson sent a letter last week asking Cuffari to withdraw the investigation. I have been notified of the loss.
January 28, 2022: The DHS Inspector General’s Office informs employees that
Investigation To the DHS Inspector General, led by the Inspector General’s Council for Integrity and Efficiency, an umbrella group of the Inspector General. The investigation relates to allegations of retaliation following an independent review of office culture.
February 2022: DHS sources say the Secret Service will notify the DHS Inspector General of data migration issues three times.
In early February, according to
Washington Post reportCuffari’s office staff planned to contact all DHS agencies to help data specialists retrieve messages from phones. , reports that Cuffari’s office has decided not to collect or investigate agency calls.
According to The Washington Post, in late February, Mr. Kaffari said that text messages to two senior DHS officials under the Trump administration had gone missing, and that in January 2021, when they left their jobs, the government would I found out that I was missing when resetting my phone.
June 28, 2022: Former Trump White House aide
Cassidy Hutchinson testifies In front of the House Selection Committee. She was informed of a violent altercation between former President Donald Trump and his Secret Service details after Trump was told he would not be able to make it to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
July 14, 2022: kafari
write in a letter The Department of Homeland Security told his office, “Many U.S. Secret Service text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021,
erased As part of a device exchange program. ”
July 15, 2022: inspector’s office
Report to the House Selection Committee About secret service texts.On the same day, the selection committee
issue a subpoena This is a record related to January 6th.
July 19, 2022: secret Service
respond To the House Select Committee by providing thousands of records. “Our delivery included thousands of pages of documents, secret service cell phone usage and other policies, operational and planning records,” Guglielmi said in his statement.
The agency also said it was taking steps to recover the text messages.
write a letter to the committee It examined metadata to determine which messages may have been sent and interviewed 24 Secret Service employees in question.
Also on July 19, the National Archives wrote to DHS requesting a report documenting the inappropriate deletion of text messages.
July 20, 2022: DHS Deputy Inspector General Gladys Ayala said the Inspector General’s office was investigating the circumstances surrounding the potentially deleted text as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, as CNN first reported. I am sending a letter notifying service. In her letter, the Inspector General’s office instructs the Secret Service to:
Stop Your Own Investigationwrote that it could interfere with criminal investigations.
Before that letter was sent, the Secret Service had identified metadata that indicated texts were sent and received on the phones of 10 of 24 Secret Service employees around January 6, 2021. saved and
CNN reported.
July 26, 2022: Thompson and Maloney call out to Kafari
postpone an investigation A text message to another inspector general questioned his ability to conduct an investigation.legislator writes
letter to kufari His failure to notify Congress of the missing text in a timely fashion “threw serious doubts about his independence and his ability to effectively conduct such an important inquiry.”
July 28, 2022: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin of the Illinois Democratic Party said:
called Attorney General Merrick Garland will investigate the missing messages from the preliminary stages through January 6. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
