WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security’s chief watchdog halted efforts to try to retrieve lost Secret Service text messages from other department phones, The Washington Post reported.
Inspector General Joseph Cuffari’s office had planned to assist all DHS agencies to help recover the lost messages from their phones in early February after learning Secret Service texts had been erased, according to the newspaper late Friday. The Post said two government whistle-blowers had informed Congress about this effort.
But later the same month, the plan was scrapped, the Post said, citing three people it did not name. The article added that Cuffari failed to tell the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol — and other congressional committees — that his office had become aware of the lost texts last December.
