Secret Service Director James Murray sent an agency-wide memo on Tuesday, the details of which were first reported by CNN, informing officials that he is considering temporarily suspending the use of texts until the agency fixes flaws in how it preserves those messages, according to sources. , who described the note.
The Secret Service has come under fire after the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general told Congress last month that the agency had deleted text messages from around Jan. 6 that were requested by Congress.
Although the agency said it cooperated with the inspector general — and that the messages were lost as a result of a previously planned migration of phone data in January 2021 — the memo is the latest sign that the Secret Service sees a need to change its background data practices of the reaction to the messages of January 6.
One of the sources said Secret Service leadership has made it clear that it will not stop the use of text messages without first understanding what impact it might have on the work of Secret Service agents. Agency employees, for example, text with local police officers, one source said, and the agency would not want to lose that channel of communication.
There are concerns, the source said, that completely disabling the agency’s texting capabilities could harm the Secret Service’s protection capabilities.
Politico first reported that the agency was considering stopping the use of the texts.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Secret Service declined to comment.
The Secret Service and DHS — as well as the Defense Department — have faced questions about the missing messages during the Jan. 6 hearing as Congress, government watchdogs and the National Archives demanded answers about how the messages were deleted. The DHS inspector general told the Secret Service last month that his office is conducting a criminal investigation into possible deleted text messages.
The Secret Service memo said the agency has a four-point plan to prevent data loss and meet record retention obligations, according to one source. The memo said there are regulatory and security reasons why the agency’s text messages are not archived on a server, but said significant efforts are being made to bridge the gap between technology capabilities and record retention requirements.
The Secret Service’s chief information officer and executive resources board plan to evaluate the benefits and impact of temporarily suspending the use of text messages until a technological solution is identified, the memo said.
The effort is also intended to serve as a road map for the next director of the Secret Service, as Murray had planned to retire before saying he would stay on until a new director is named.
Add Comment