Reps. Thompson, Maloney Demand DHS IG Step Down Over Handling of Secret Service Jan. 6 Texts

Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) are demanding that a Department of Homeland Security lead investigator into the Jan. 6 Capitol breach step down over his handling of the investigation into purportedly missing Secret Service texts from Jan. 6.

In mid-July, the Secret Service responded to a subpoena from the House January 6 Committee demanding that it turn over documents and information, including text messages between agents, from the weeks leading up to and on Jan. 6, 2021. The Secret Service complied with the subpoena—but texts from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, which the committee considered crucial, were not a part of the batch.

Democrats on the committee, including Reps. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), were quick to accuse the Secret Service of intentional erasure of the texts and of incompetence in handling the preservation of the records.

The Secret Service denied these charges, with a spokesman arguing that agents rarely use cell phones to discuss major security issues and that the texts were missing because no texts had been sent that day.

Now, Thompson and Maloney, who serve as the chairs of the House January 6 Committee and House Oversight Committee respectively, are demanding the resignation of DHS Investigator General (IG) Joseph Cuffari for his handling of the investigation into the missing texts (pdf).

In the letter, Thompson and Maloney cited a CNN report alleging that Cuffari had known of the missing material much longer than originally thought.

“We are writing with grave new concerns over your lack of transparency and independence, which appear to be jeopardizing the integrity of a crucial investigation run by your office,” the duo wrote. “According to recent reports, your office learned that the Secret Service was missing critical text messages as part of your investigation of the January 6 attack against