Headline RoundupJuly 20th, 2022

Scrutiny of Secret Service Builds Over Lost Jan. 6 Texts

Summary from the AllSides News Team

The Secret Service is being pressed about missing text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021.

The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general gave the Secret Service a deadline of Tuesday to review the text messages of 24 specific employees for material relating to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — a request that turned up only one new text conversation. The Secret Service says that the majority of the texts in question were deleted as part of a pre-planned "device-replacement program" at the agency. The deletion reportedly came after the IG had requested electronic communications records relating to Jan. 6. The National Archives and Records Administration is now asking the Secret Service to probe whether any texts from Jan. 5-6, 2021 were "improperly deleted."

Left- and center-rated news sources have covered the news more prominently than right-rated outlets, but most reports on all sides reflect a similar skepticism toward the Secret Service's story about the texts.

Voices across the spectrum, especially the left, criticized the Secret Service for purportedly deleting evidence and lying under oath. One writer for National Review cited several other recent examples of elected officials deleting records pertaining to potential criminal activity, and argued that deleting evidence has become "standard operating procedure for government officials seeking to evade public scrutiny." One writer for Salon questioned "whether the Secret Service deviated from standard procedures at the behest of people the Trump administration placed in command."

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