Durbin Calls for Justice Department to Investigate Missing Text Messages from Trump's Homeland Security Leadership and Secret Service in Lead Up to January 6 Insurrection

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding a report that text messages for former President Donald Trump’s Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli, as well as Secret Service officials, are missing for a key time period leading up to the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.  The report also notes that the Office of Inspector General Joseph Cuffari initially did not press DHS to explain why they did not preserve these records, did not seek ways to recover the lost data, and did not notify Congress about the missing text messages.

“The destruction of evidence that could be relevant to the investigation of the deadly attack on our Capitol is an extremely serious matter.  Inspector General Cuffari’s failure to take immediate action upon learning that these text messages had been deleted makes clear that he should no longer be entrusted with this investigation.  That’s why I’m sending a letter today to Attorney General Garland asking him to step in and get to the bottom of what happened to these text messages and hold accountable those who are responsible.”

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