Democracy Watchdog Group Sues Federal Agencies Over Missing Jan. 6 Texts

Filing a lawsuit against several federal agencies including the Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on Wednesday accused officials of violating federal law by failing to recover missing messages that could pertain to the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The agencies, along with the Department of Defense (DOD), the U.S. Army, and the National Archives are required under the Federal Records Act to take enforcement action to recover text messages that were sent from multiple Trump administration officials on January 6 and the surrounding days.

"The loss of these particular federal records would leave a major gap in the factual record concerning the January 6 attack on the Capitol."

When members of Congress and federal inspectors general launched probes into the attack, in which thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump breached the U.S. Capitol and tried to stop lawmakers from certifying his electoral loss, they found "an alarming pattern," reads CREW's lawsuit.

"Text messages of key Trump administration officials at DHS, the Secret Service, DOD, and the Army from on and around January 6 were deleted," the lawsuit reads. "Even worse, the deletions occurred after the records were requested by government investigators and FOIA requesters in January 2021."

Government records from the personal cell phone of Ken Cuccinelli, the former acting deputy secretary of homeland security, were also erased when his government phone was "reset" in January 2021, according to the complaint.

The DHS reportedly discovered a year later that Cuccinelli "'was using his personal phone' to communicate about government business," but the agency "did not seek to collect messages from this device."

The Federal Records Act requires government agencies to "take enforcement action through the Attorney General whenever they become aware of records being unlawfully removed or destroyed," CREW noted.

On social media, CREW juxtaposed the deleted text messages with the Republican Party's response to former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server when she was secretary of state.

"Missing and destroyed federal records from top officials undermine government transparency and accountability, and it is imperative that agencies are complying with record-keeping laws," said Donald Sherman, senior vice president and chief counsel at CREW. "The loss of these particular federal records would leave a major gap in the factual record concerning the January 6 attack on the Capitol, impeding efforts to obtain answers and accountability for an unprecedented assault on American democracy."

The lawsuit states that uncovering the text messages from officials at the U.S. Army and the DOD "could help answer unresolved questions about the agencies' pre-January 6 preparations and the significant delay in their deployment of National Guard troops to the Capitol as it was under siege."

All of the missing records could also shed light on "the actions or inaction of key White House and Trump administration officials on and around the insurrection," said CREW.

A report released in April 2021 by the inspector general overseeing the Capitol Police found that the law enforcement agency was forewarned about an attack in which "Congress itself is the target" but officers were ordered not to use aggressive crowd control methods.

"The missing records may contain critical evidence concerning the January 6 attack on the Capitol and could shed light on the reasons for the government's lack of preparedness for the attack, the government's day-of response, and the actions or inaction of key White House and Trump administration officials on and around the insurrection," said CREW.

The agencies named in the lawsuit have "a legal duty to recover" the records, said Sherman.

"These missing records are the property of the American public," he said. "Government records must be preserved or retrieved when removed from federal custody, especially when they are critical to issues of public concern."