{"id":1587525,"date":"2022-08-03T16:55:08","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T20:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1587525"},"modified":"2022-08-03T16:55:14","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T20:55:14","slug":"just-astounding-defense-department-wiped-jan-6-text-messages-from-key-officials-watchdog-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/just-astounding-defense-department-wiped-jan-6-text-messages-from-key-officials-watchdog-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Just Astounding\u2019: Defense Department Wiped Jan. 6 Text Messages From Key Officials, Watchdog Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjust-astounding-defense-department-wiped-jan-6-text-messages-from-key-officials-watchdog-finds%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1587525&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1285484811-scaled-e1659556125382.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The Department of Defense (DOD) wiped messages from devices belonging to Trump administration officials involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, according to court filings.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/american-oversight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">American Oversight<\/a> watchdog group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanoversight.org\/document\/american-oversight-v-dod-and-army-communications-with-white-house-on-day-of-congressional-certification-of-2020-election-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">filed<\/a> Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Pentagon and Army to obtain records from former Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, his former chief of staff Kash Patel and former Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, as well as other key\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/01\/06\/dod-department-defense-muriel-bowser-election-protests-riots-optics-national-guard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Defense officials,<\/a> in March 2021. DOD <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/kxhthz4mcdeiaiv\/AO_JSR_20220310.pdf?dl=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">responded<\/a> in March 2022 that \u201ctext messages were not preserved and could not be searched,\u201d possibly erasing information that could provide transparency behind the events of Jan. 6.<\/p>\n<p>The DOD officials whose records were allegedly destroyed would have participated in making the decision to <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/01\/13\/national-guard-sleeps-overnight-capitol-building\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">deploy<\/a> the National Guard after the Jan. 6 riots began.<\/p>\n<p data-paragraph-id=\"paragraph_5566EDBA-039F-2E76-F8F6-60D8742C8299\">\u201cI did not wipe the phone before I turned it in (or ever that I can recall),\u201d former DOD General Counsel Paul Ney told CNN. \u201cWhen I turned the phone in, I did not know what was going to be done with that device nor do I know what actually was done with that device after I turned it in\u201d on Jan. 20.<\/p>\n<p data-paragraph-id=\"paragraph_5566EDBA-039F-2E76-F8F6-60D8742C8299\">\u201cIf DoD represented in litigation that the device was wiped after I left DoD on Inauguration Day, I believe that is very likely what happened and when it happened, but I do not know why,\u201d Ney added.<\/p>\n<p data-paragraph-id=\"paragraph_5566EDBA-039F-2E76-F8F6-60D8742C8299\">DOD said in its response to American Oversight that \u201cwhen an employee separates from DOD or Army he or she turns in the government issued phone, and the phone is wiped.\u201d It acknowledged that text messages were completely deleted, although copies of some messages could live in other records systems, like email.<\/p>\n<p data-paragraph-id=\"paragraph_5566EDBA-039F-2E76-F8F6-60D8742C8299\">Federal records laws <a href=\"https:\/\/sgp.fas.org\/crs\/secrecy\/R43072.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">require<\/a> any federal records of informational value to be preserved indefinitely.<\/p>\n<p>American Oversight initially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanoversight.org\/document\/foia-to-dod-seeking-communications-with-president-trump-or-chief-of-staff-mark-meadows-on-day-of-congressional-certification-of-2020-election-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">submitted<\/a> FOIA requests for DOD communications records on Jan. 12, 2021, less than a week after the Capitol riots and before the Biden administration\u2019s transition. The DOD acknowledged the requests on Jan. 15, CNN reported, but allegedly stonewalled producing a response until September.<\/p>\n<p>However, government attorneys told the organization earlier in 2022 that the DOD had neglected to ensure communications data was transferred from personnel devices to secure storage, according to CNN.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just astounding to believe that the agency did not understand the importance of preserving its records \u2014 particularly [with regards] to the top officials that might have captured: what they were doing, when they were doing it, why they were doing, it on that day,\u201d Heather Sawyer, American Oversight\u2019s executive director, <a href=\"https:\/\/amp.cnn.com\/cnn\/2022\/08\/02\/politics\/defense-department-missing-january-6-texts\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told<\/a> CNN.<\/p>\n<p>American Oversight petitioned current Attorney General Merrick Garland to initiate an investigation into the DOD\u2019s failure to preserve the text messages Tuesday.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">DC Police Were Warned About Jan. 6 As Early As 2020, Documents Reveal <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SmriUBqWp9\">https:\/\/t.co\/SmriUBqWp9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DailyCaller\/status\/1453432578606784518?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 27, 2021<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Secret Service <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/07\/15\/capitol-congress-riot-attack\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">acknowledged<\/a> earlier in July that text messages from Trump administration personnel disappeared during a scheduled data migration on Jan. 27, 2021. The Department of Homeland Security\u2019s inspector general failed to reveal that the IG knew about the loss for more than a year after the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/07\/17\/zoe-lofgren-secret-service-jan-6-texts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">subpoenaed<\/a> the Secret Service for the apparently deleted records on July 17, CNN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/08\/01\/politics\/secret-service-texts-dhs-inspector-general\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a>. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/06\/29\/j6-committee-didnt-reach-out-to-secret-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: J6 Committee Didn\u2019t Reach Out To Secret Service)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department and Pentagon declined to comment. The Army and the Jan. 6 committee did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Defense (DOD) wiped messages from devices belonging to Trump administration officials involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, according to court filings.The American Oversight watchdog group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":899,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1587525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1587525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/899"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1587525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1587525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1587525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1587525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1587525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}