The new date is Jul 19, 2022.
The National Archives and Records Administration has asked the Secret Service to determine if any text messages from before or during the January 6 Capitol riot were deleted, after a federal watchdog determined a trove of texts from that time were erased.
Donald Trump's supporters gathered outside the Capitol in Washington on January 6th. The photo was taken by OLIVIER DOULIERY.
The National Archives Chief Records Officer sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security requesting that the Secret Service look into the matter and give a report to the National Archives within 30 days.
The Secret Service deleted the texts as part of a device-replacement program after the inspector general requested to see them, according to a letter from the inspector general.
He did not say if he thought the messages were deleted deliberately.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said last week that the service had cooperated with the OIG and had not deleted text messages.
According to the Washington Post, the House January 6 committee issued a subpoena for the Secret Service to recover the deleted texts and turn them over to them, but the Secret Service determined it had no new records it could provide.
The National Archives can ask the Justice Department to launch a criminal investigation if wrongdoing is suspected, as it did after it recovered 15 boxes of records former President Donald Trump took with him to Mar-a-Lago. Three years in prison is the maximum sentence for destruction of public records.
The actions of Secret Service agents during the Capitol riot have come under scrutiny recently. Greg Jacob, who was general counsel to former Vice President Mike Pence, said at a hearing last month that he was afraid the Secret Service would keep him from certifying the 2020 election results if they took him away from the Capitol during the riot. At a June 28 hearing, Cassidy Hutchinson said that Donald Trump grabbed the steering wheel of his limo after being told he wasn't being taken to the Capitol because of security. The Secret Service agents have not challenged the story under oath.
The Secret Service deleted some text messages.
The National Archives wants the Justice Department to investigate the handling of White House records.
The records from Mar-A-Lago should have never been there.
Ex-Aide Says Trump Grabbed Limo Steering Wheel, Lunged At Security Chief, and Raged At Not Being Taken to Capitol.
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