DHS watchdog has launched criminal probe into destruction of Jan. 6 Secret Service text messages, sources say
Results of the investigation could be referred to federal prosecutors, the sources said, depending on the results.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General has launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the destruction of Secret Service text messages that may have been relevant to inquiries about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
The results of the investigation could be referred to federal prosecutors, the sources said, depending on the results.
The DHS Inspector General informed the Secret Service on Wednesday evening that the investigation is now criminal and that it should halt all internal investigations on the missing text messages, according to a letter detailed to NBC News.
“To ensure the integrity of our investigation, the USSS must not engage in any further investigative activities regarding the collection and preservation of the evidence referenced above,” DHS Deputy Inspector General Gladys Ayala wrote in a letter to Secret Service Director James Murray on Wednesday evening. “This includes immediately refraining from interviewing potential witnesses, collecting devices or taking any other action that would interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation.”
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NEW: DHS watchdog launches criminal investigation into the destruction of Secret Service text messages that may have been relevant to inquiries about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, sources say. https://t.co/mcwggIE7FD
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 21, 2022Some Secret Service members likely violated record keeping laws, and the combo of the dates of the deleted texts (Jan. 5-6, 2021) and the fact that USSS was told twice to preserve them and still deleted them suggests the possibility of criminal conspiracy.
This looks very serious https://t.co/jRPFyG4Iv8— Nicholas Grossman (@NGrossman81) July 21, 2022
Among the 24 USSS personnel whose texts for Jan 5 and 6 are missing are Robert Engel, the member of the Trump protective detail who was in the presidential car when Trump angrily wanted to be taken to the Capitol, and James Murray, the USSS head https://t.co/Qhaa2olADO
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 21, 2022
.@JonathanTurley said that while the USSS has had the rationale of maintaining trust with protectees to explain its opacity in the past, that the events around Jan. 6 call for greater transparency and for USSS to be more forthcoming explaining the texts https://t.co/Qhaa2olADO
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 21, 2022
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