The United States Secret Service is a lot like indoor plumbing: It’s something you only think about when there’s a problem. While the federal law enforcement agency has a role in investigating financial crimes such as counterfeiting, it is best known for its role in protecting members of the executive branch, such as the president and vice president, and their families.
In this capacity, they are often part of the background. These are the people in dark suits and headphones who are always very close to the president, but ideally just out of frame. When they come into focus, it’s a sign that something is wrong. And things have gone very wrong for the Secret Service recently, as text messages sent by agents during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack appear to have been deleted.
Last week, the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, under which the Secret Service operates, sent a letter to Congress informing them that text messages sent by agents on and before Jan. 6 had been deleted. A Secret Service spokesman said it was part of a long-planned “systemic migration,” but the deletions have now spurred a criminal investigation after investigators were able to find only one relevant text message from two dozen agents subject to a congressional subpoena.
Further concerns were raised after the Washington Post reported that the DHS inspector general had known about the deleted messages since February but said nothing.
That prompted a joint statement Wednesday from Reps. Benny Thompson (D-MS) and Liz Cheney (R-WY), the chair and vice chair of the House committee since Jan. 6:
We have concerns about a system migration that we’ve been told has resulted in the deletion of data from Secret Service cell phones. The migration process of the US Secret Service system continued on January 27, 2021, just three weeks after the attack on the Capitol, in which the Vice President of the United States, while under Secret Service protection, was steps away from a violent mob chasing him. Four House committees had already sought these critical records from the Department of Homeland Security before the records were apparently lost. Additionally, the procedure for retaining the content prior to this purging appears to have been inconsistent with federal records retention requirements and may constitute a possible violation of the Federal Records Act.
The text messages have become increasingly important after testimony from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who recounted an astonishing scene in which former President Donald Trump attempted to wrest control of a Secret Service vehicle to join a crowd at the Capitol on 6th of January. Hutchinson relayed a story told to her by Tony Ornato, the White House’s top Secret Service detail aide, and Bobby Engle, Trump’s chief of security.
As Hutchinson recounted at a public hearing in June, Trump became enraged when agents tried to take him back to the White House instead of the Capitol. “I’m the goddamn president, take me to the Capitol now,” Trump reportedly exclaimed before reaching for the wheel of the Secret Service vehicle. He then “pounced on [the] collarbone” of an agent trying to detain him, Hutchinson said.
Immediately after her testimony, anonymous Secret Service agents told several outlets that Ornato and Engel were prepared to deny that it happened, but neither testified to the fact under oath. In its hearing Thursday, the commission said other anonymous sources corroborated what Hutchinson said.
The visibility of the text messages between agents would confirm what happened and could further prove Trump’s intent to join the crowd at the Capitol in his efforts to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election. They may also offer more details about what was Trump doing during the attack. During Thursday’s hearing, the committee found that Trump spent most of the time during the attack watching Fox News and lobbying senators to support his effort to overturn the 2020 election.
Also, they could clarify what is going on around Vice President Mike Pence that day. Thursday’s hearing showed audio transcripts of Secret Service agents at the Capitol worried that Pence might not be able to escape to safety in the Capitol, and an anonymous security official testified that members of Pence’s team were just as concerned , that they called family members to say goodbye in case they didn’t survive.
Then, as Pence fled, he refused agents’ pleas to get into a car because he didn’t trust them not to take him away and evacuate the Capitol. Pence, who felt it was important for the country to get on with completing the task Congress began that day, did not want to impede the certification of the election if he could not return to the Capitol that night, as Carol Leonig and Philip of the Washington Post Rucker reports in his book I Alone Can Fix It. Pence told Tim Giebels, his chief of staff, “I’m not getting in the car, Tim. I believe you, Tim, but you’re not driving the car. If I get into this vehicle, you will take off. I’m not getting in the car.”
At the same time, Ornato told Keith Kellogg, Pence’s national security adviser, that there were plans to move the vice president to Andrews Air Force Base. Kellogg replied, according to the Post, “You can’t do that, Tony. Leave him where he is. He has work to do. I know you people too well. You’d fly him to Alaska if you could. Do not do it.”
The missing text messages may reveal more details about that as well, but it’s unclear if we’ll ever see them. The Secret Service says they are unlikely to be recovered. However, we may learn more during the criminal investigation about who deleted them and why.
Meanwhile, committee member Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) told reporters Thursday night that both Ornato and Engel have hired private attorneys.
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