The select committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. The directive could complicate the Secret Service’s response to a subpoena it received from the House select committee last week, as well as a request from the National Archives this week to the DHS records officer asking the agency to clear up if the text messages were deleted and explain why. The new letter comes after the Secret Service was only able to provide a single text message to the inspector general, who had requested a month’s worth of records for 24 Secret Service personnel, according to a letter to the select committee.Ī DHS Office of Inspector General spokesperson told CNN, “Consistent with Attorney General guidelines, DHS OIG typically does not confirm the existence of, or otherwise comment about, ongoing investigations.” The Justice Department declined to comment on the reference to an “ongoing criminal investigation” in the inspector general’s letter. “We have informed the January 6th Select Committee of the Inspector General’s request and will conduct a thorough legal review to ensure we are fully cooperative with all oversight efforts and that they do not conflict with each other,” the agency said in the statement.Ī spokesperson for the Secret Service, “We are unaware of a criminal allegation, but are committed to cooperating with the Inspector General.” The Secret Service, in a statement, acknowledged it had received the inspector general’s letter. The inspector general wrote that the Secret Service should explain what interviews had already been conducted related to the text messages, along with the “scope off the questioning, and what, if any, warnings were given to the witness(es).” The inspector general told the Secret Service to respond by Monday. Inspectors general in the federal government can refer the findings of their investigations to federal prosecutors. The letter adds to the growing tension between the Secret Service and the DHS inspector general over the potentially missing text messages, which are being sought by the House select committee as part of its investigation into former President Donald Trump’s actions and movements on January 6, 2021. This includes immediately refraining from interviewing potential witnesses, collecting devices or taking any other action that would interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation.” The inspector general continued: “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. “This is to notify you that the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General has an ongoing investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the collection and preservation of evidence by the United States Secret Service as it relates to the events of January 6, 2021,” DHS Deputy Inspector General Gladys Ayala wrote in a July 20 letter to Secret Service Director James Murray. The Department of Homeland Security inspector general has informed the Secret Service it is investigating what happened to January 6-related text messages that may have been deleted, describing it as an “ongoing criminal investigation” and directing the agency to stop its internal investigations into the matter, according to a letter reviewed by CNN.
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