But the issue surrounding the possible loss of text messages dates back more than a year, as the Secret Service and the watchdog repeatedly went back and forth about the data loss. As CNN reported Friday, Kufari’s office knew about the missing texts as early as May 2021, months earlier than previously known.
Here’s a timeline of how Secret Service text messages became one of the key issues for a House committee as it prepares for the next phase of its investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
January 16, 2021: Ten days after the Capitol riot, four House committees send a letter to Homeland Security and other relevant agencies instructing them to preserve records related to January 6.
It is not yet clear whether the Secret Service received the guidance. A source familiar with the investigation told CNN that the Secret Service tried to locate him last week but were unsuccessful.
January 25, 2021: The Secret Service “instructed employees how to preserve the contents of their phones,” sending a reminder to employees that a pre-planned data migration would wipe their phones, according to a letter the Secret Service sent to the House Select Committee in July 19, 2022. The Secret Service’s internal memo clarified that employees are solely responsible for preserving records that are required to be preserved by law.
January 27, 2021: Microsoft Intune phone migration begins, according to the agency’s July 19 letter to the House Select Committee.
February 26, 2021: DHS Inspector General Joseph Kufari requests electronic communications from the Secret Service for the first time, according to agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. “DHS OIG requested electronic communications for the first time on February 26, 2021, after the migration was underway. The Secret Service notified DHS OIG of the loss of data on certain phones, but confirmed to OIG that none of the text messages it was looking for were lost in the migration,” Guglielmi said in a statement dated July 14, 2022.
March 25, 2021: House committee chairs send letters to the White House and multiple federal agencies seeking documents and communications related to the January 6 attack. Among the agencies to receive a letter is the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service.
April 1, 2021: The Intune migration is complete, according to the agency’s letter.
May 2021: The Secret Service notifies the DHS inspector general of missing text messages related to the phone data migration issue, according to sources. The agency tells Kufari’s office that the Secret Service tried to contact a cellular provider to retrieve the texts when they realized they were lost, a source told CNN.
Key Secret Service personnel mistakenly believed the data was backed up and didn’t realize it was lost forever until the data migration was complete, the source said.
June 11, 2021: DHS inspector general requests text messages “sent or received by 24 Secret Service agents between December 7, 2020 and January 8, 2021.” CNN previously reported that the heads of Trump and Pence’s security departments are among the 24 individuals.
The Secret Service responded to the request by sending a text message. That message was from former US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund to former Secret Service Uniformed Division Chief Thomas Sullivan asking for help on January 6.
July 2021: A DHS deputy inspector general tells DHS that the inspector general’s office is no longer looking into Secret Service text messages, according to two sources.
December 2021: DHS inspector general reopens investigation into Secret Service text messages. According to a letter sent last week by House Oversight Chairman Carolyn Maloney and Homeland Security Chairman Benny Thompson urging Kuffari to recuse himself from the investigation, the Secret Service told the inspector general’s office that the text messages had been deleted. A DHS source told CNN that Cuffari’s office has been notified again about the data loss.
January 28, 2022: The DHS Office of the Inspector General notifies staff of an investigation into the DHS Inspector General led by the Inspector General Council on Integrity and Effectiveness, the joint inspector general group. The investigation relates to allegations of retaliation following an independent review of office culture. February 2022: The Secret Service notifies the DHS inspector general for a third time about the data migration issue, according to a DHS source. In early February, according to a Washington Post report, Cuffari’s office staff planned to contact all DHS agencies, offering data specialists to help retrieve messages from their phones. But later that month, the Post reported that Cuffari’s office decided it would not collect or review any agency phones.
In late February, according to the Washington Post, Cuffari learned that text messages for two senior DHS officials in the Trump administration were missing and that they had been lost when their government phones were reset when they left their jobs in January 2021.
June 28, 2022: Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testifies before the House Select Committee. She says she was told about a heated argument between former President Donald Trump and his Secret Service agents after Trump was told he could not travel to the Capitol on Jan. 6. The testimony raises new questions about the Secret Service’s behavior on Jan. 6. 14, 2022: Kuffari writes in a letter to the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees that the Department of Homeland Security has notified his office “multiple U.S. Secret Service text messages dated January 5 and 6, 2021 were deleted as part of device replacement program.” July 15, 2022: Office of Inspector General briefs House Select Committee on Secret Service texts. Same day, Special Committee issues subpoena for records related to Jan. 6. July 19, 2022 .: Secret Service responds to House special committee by releasing thousands of records. “Our delivery included thousands of pages of documents, Secret Service cell phone use and other policies, as well as operational and planning records,” Guglielmi said in a statement. The agency said added that he is still taking steps to try to recover the text messages, writing in a letter to the commission that he is looking at metadata to determine what messages that they had been sent and interviewed the 24 Secret Service officers in question.
Also on July 19, the National Archives sent a letter to DHS requesting a report documenting any wrongful deletion of text messages.
July 20, 2022: DHS Deputy Inspector General Gladys Ayala writes to the Secret Service informing the agency that the Office of Inspector General is investigating the circumstances surrounding the possible deleted texts as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, as first reported by CNN. In the letter, the inspector general’s office ordered the Secret Service to halt its own investigation, saying it could interfere with the criminal investigation. Before this letter was sent, the Secret Service identified metadata showing that texts were sent or received on the phones of 10 of 24 Secret Service employees around January 6, 2021, and the agency is trying to determine whether they contain relevant information. which should be preserved, CNN reported. July 26, 2022: Thompson and Maloney call on Cuffari to turn the text message investigation over to another inspector general, questioning his ability to conduct the investigation. The lawmakers wrote in a letter to Kufari that his failure to notify Congress of the missing texts in a timely manner “casts serious doubt on his independence and ability to effectively conduct such an important investigation.” July 28, 2022: Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, Democrat from Illinois, called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the missing messages from the beginning until January 6. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
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