Destroyed Phone Records: Secret Service Texts from January 5-6, 2021, Deleted During 'Device Migration' After Watchdog Requested Them
Tier 3Documented2021-01-05 to 2022-07-21
Factual Summary
Text messages sent and received by U.S. Secret Service agents on January 5 and 6, 2021, the two days surrounding the attack on the U.S. Capitol, were deleted as part of what the agency described as a planned device-replacement program. The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General reported that the deletion occurred after his office had requested the records, and the DHS IG subsequently opened a criminal investigation into the matter. The lost records constituted potentially critical evidence about communications within the Secret Service during one of the most significant security events in modern American history.
On July 14, 2022, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari informed Congress that the Secret Service had erased text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021, as part of a device-migration program. Cuffari's letter stated that his office had requested electronic communications from the Secret Service on February 26, 2021, and that the agency had purged the messages after that request was made.
The Secret Service disputed the IG's characterization, stating that the device migration was pre-planned, had begun before the IG's request, and that any data loss was incidental rather than deliberate. The Secret Service stated: "The insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false." However, the IG's office noted that the Secret Service's account of how the data was lost changed over time. The agency initially said the texts were lost during a software upgrade, then changed its explanation to say they were lost during device replacements. The IG also noted that Secret Service personnel were told to back up their phones before the migration, but many did not do so.
On July 20, 2022, the DHS Inspector General escalated the inquiry into a criminal investigation and directed the Secret Service to halt any internal investigation into the deleted messages until the criminal probe was completed. The January 6 Committee subpoenaed the Secret Service for the erased text messages on July 19, 2022.
The lost messages were of particular investigative significance because they could have shed light on critical events, including the movements and communications of the presidential detail during the January 6 attack, the widely reported account that Trump demanded to be taken to the Capitol, and the period during which Vice President Mike Pence was in danger while sheltering at the Capitol. Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified to the January 6 Committee that Trump attempted to grab the steering wheel of his vehicle and lunged at a Secret Service agent who refused to take him to the Capitol. The deleted texts could have corroborated or contradicted this testimony.
The criminal investigation by the DHS IG did not result in public charges. The texts were never recovered.
Primary Sources
1. DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari letter to congressional committees regarding Secret Service text messages, July 14, 2022
2. DHS Inspector General letter directing Secret Service to cease internal investigation, July 20, 2022
3. January 6 Select Committee subpoena to the U.S. Secret Service, July 19, 2022
4. Secret Service public statements regarding device migration, July 2022
Corroborating Sources
1. ABC News: "Secret Service deleted texts from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, after watchdog sought records," July 14, 2022
2. NPR: "Secret Service erased texts from two-day period spanning Jan. 6 attack, watchdog says," July 14, 2022
3. CNN: "Secret Service erased text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021, after oversight officials asked for them, watchdog says," July 14, 2022
4. ABC News: "DHS inspector general opens criminal probe into deleted Secret Service texts," July 21, 2022
5. CBS News: "U.S. Secret Service members erased Jan. 5-6 texts after oversight officials asked for them," July 2022
Counterarguments and Context
The Secret Service maintained that the deletion was part of a routine, pre-planned technology upgrade and that no evidence was intentionally destroyed. Officials stated that employees were instructed to back up their data before turning in old devices and that the failure to do so was an individual oversight rather than an institutional directive. The Secret Service also disputed the IG's timeline, arguing that the migration was well underway before the IG's document request arrived. The DOI Inspector General's investigation into the separate clearing of Lafayette Square (a distinct event) found institutional challenges with records preservation at DHS, suggesting that the Secret Service's data management practices were systemically poor rather than deliberately obstructive. However, the changing explanations provided by the Secret Service, the fact that the deletion occurred after the IG's request, and the irreplaceable nature of the lost evidence, covering the two most consequential days for presidential security in recent history, raise questions that the agency's explanations did not resolve. Whether the deletion was negligent or deliberate, the result was the same: key evidence from January 5 and 6 was permanently destroyed.
Author's Note
This entry is classified as Tier 3 because the deletion is documented through the DHS Inspector General's official communications to Congress, the Secret Service's own statements, and the January 6 Committee's subpoena. No criminal charges were filed, and no determination was publicly made as to whether the deletion was deliberate obstruction or negligent data management. The entry documents the loss of evidence rather than assigning intent. The significance lies in what was lost: communications from the Secret Service during the hours when the Capitol was under attack and the president's movements and demands were at the center of multiple investigations.