WASHINGTON – House committee investigates attack on US Capitol issue a subpoena to the Secret Service Late Friday looks for text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021, believed to have been deleted, as well as any post-action reports.
In a statement, the committee’s chair, Representative Bennie Thompson, a Democrat of Mississippi, said the panel was seeking records from “any and all parts” of the Secret Service “that are involved.” related or related in any way to the events of January 6, 2021.”
The development came after the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of the Secret Service, met with a panel and told lawmakers that many of the documents had been removed as part of a replacement program. equipment even when requested by the inspector general. them as part of his investigation into the events of January 6.
The Secret Service partially countered the inspector general’s findings, saying data on some phones had been “lost” as part of a “system migration” plan in January 2021, but unrelated to the investigation.
The agency said that the project was underway before receiving notice from the inspector general to preserve its data and that it did not delete “malicious” text messages.
Key revelations from the January 6 hearing
Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat of Maryland and a member of the committee, said the committee wants to hear more information from the Secret Service to try to understand what happened.
“The committee is absolutely determined to get to the bottom of this matter and find all the missing documents,” Mr. Raskin told reporters on Capitol Hill. “They are lacking, but in the age of high technology, we should not give up.”
The subpoena comes as the committee continues to conduct its investigation even as it prepares for what could be the final hearing on its summer schedule: a prime-time session on Wednesday. The year focuses on former President Donald J. Trump’s 187 minutes of inaction as the mob of his supporters attacked Congress.
Mr. Byrne was present at what was perhaps the most dramatic President Trump’s meeting on December 18, 2020in which Michael T. Flynn, a former national security adviser, and Sidney Powell, a pro-Trump attorney, forcibly seized voting machines and appointed Ms. Powell as special counsel to reverse the election.
Mr Thompson said the council was also discussing what to do about some of the more prominent potential witnesses.
Virginia Thomas, a political activist who pushed to overturn the 2020 election and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, “remains on the committee’s list” of witnesses to call, even though she turned down attempts to interview herMr. Thompson said.
Mr. Thompson also told reporters that the panel was continuing to discuss – as members have for months – whether to try to summon Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence to testify, but lawmakers no conclusions have been drawn on how to proceed.
The panel believes both men will likely resist efforts to get them to testify, and some lawmakers fear a public fight over Mr. Trump’s compliance would distract from publicity. fact finding.
Mr. Thompson earlier said the committee had rejected the subpoena against Pence, citing “important information” it had received from two of his aides, Marc Short and Greg Jacob.
