Secret Service cannot recover texts; no new details for Jan. 6 committee – The Washington Post
The Secret Service says it likely won’t be able to recover deleted text messages from January 5th and 6.
The committee is trying to figure out why the Secret Service erased all communications surrounding Jan. 6, and some lawmakers are questioning whether the agency is in violation of federal records laws.
Officials at the Secret Service are reaching out to phone service providers and manufacturers for assistance after some key text messages were presumed to be permanently deleted.
The Secret Service will comply with the committee’s subpoena but will repeat what it has already shared with the panel. The agency has denied any “hidden messages” or anything else it is “holding out” from the panel.
The House Jan. 6 committee is eager to learn if the “erased” messages reveal new details about Trump’s actions and intentions surrounding the insurrection. The Secret Service has since disputed a former top West Wing aide’s account of a confrontation with Trump on Jan. 6.
Two witnesses are expected to testify before the committee Thursday, one of whom is former Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger and the other a former deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Matthews.
The government argued Steve Benn thought he was above the law and should come to court to testify.
For more information on this story, consider the following news outlets listed below.
- Secret Service cannot recover texts; no new details for Jan. 6 committee The Washington Post
- National Archives asks Secret Service to probe missing Jan. 6 texts CBS Evening News
- Secret Service gives thousands of documents to January 6 committee, but hasn’t yet recovered potentially missing texts CNN
- Secret Service says no new Jan. 6 texts found after records were deleted; investigation requested ABC News
- Secret Service set to turn over ‘erased’ Jan. 6 texts The Hill
