Analysis of Deleted Text Messages by Senior Officials Related to January 6 Events
Messages sent and received by several high-ranking officials connected to the Trump administration, and within the Pentagon, have become a focal point in discussions about January 6, 2021. The existence of deletions of material from government phones has been reported in court filings citing statements from the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army. These filings suggest that officials may have cleared communications as part of routine procedures when duties wrap up or when employees transition away from public service.
According to documents reviewed by the CNBC network, officials from the Department of Defense and the Army indicated that they approved the deletion of messages when an employee leaves public duties. The practice, described as handing over a government-issued phone and then deleting its contents, raises questions about record-keeping standards and accountability across agencies during a period of heightened scrutiny.
These disclosures emerged roughly two weeks after a congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack requested that the U.S. Secret Service preserve text messages that could be relevant to the inquiry. The panel specifically sought messages from the day of the uprising, noting that some were deleted after a short window of time following the events themselves. The Secret Service has been a central focus in the investigation, given its role in protecting the president and its proximity to decisions on security during the attack on the Capitol. In late reports, witnesses indicated that the former president had some involvement in security decisions on that day, prompting continued examination of the chain of command and communication records surrounding events at Capitol Hill.
Observations from watchdog groups stated that the elimination of messages was not limited to one agency. It was noted that phones used by senior officials at both the Department of Defense and the Army were wiped, with conversations from January 6 appearing to be erased across multiple levels of government, according to statements from the supervising observer group American Oversight. The organization emphasized that this pattern points to the need for a thorough, interagency review to determine the scope and impact of record destruction on federal documentation.”
In a letter cited by The Washington Post, the issue was framed as a broader concern about record retention practices across agencies. It called for coordinated interagency action to examine potential destruction of federal records and to ensure that crucial information from that period is preserved for historical and legal purposes. The letter underscored the urgency of having clear, uniform retention and deletion policies for government devices, especially when related to matters of national significance.
The possibility that some deleted messages could have contained information contradicting or supporting particular claims about January 6 has led to discussions about the need for transparency and independent verification. The committee noted that the Secret Service reportedly deleted text messages after initial requests from the panel on February 26, 2021. This sequence raises important questions about when and how data deletion took place, and whether it affected the availability of evidence in the inquiry. Such concerns highlight the broader challenge of ensuring reliable archival practices within federal agencies during periods of political sensitivity and public scrutiny. [citation: The Washington Post; CNBC reporting; statements from American Oversight]