DOD ‘wiped’ phones of Trump-era leaders, erasing Jan. 6 texts

[mystery-ak]

 DOD ‘wiped’ phones of Trump-era leaders, erasing Jan. 6 texts
by Rebecca Beitsch - 08/02/22 4:27 PM ET

The Department of Defense (DOD) failed to retain text messages from a number of its top officials relating to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot because it wiped their phones during the transition, a watchdog group that sued for the records disclosed Tuesday.

American Oversight filed a public records request for the communications of former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller and former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy in the days after the attack on the Capitol.

But they were informed during litigation that the records were not preserved.

“DOD and Army conveyed to Plaintiff that when an employee separates from DOD or Army he or she turns in the government-issued phone, and the phone is wiped. For those custodians no longer with the agency, the text messages were not preserved and therefore could not be searched,” the agencies wrote in a March court filing.

The disclosure follows news that numerous officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also had their messages erased during the transition, including former acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his deputy Ken Cuccinelli. Both had their phones reset following the inauguration, losing any texts from Jan. 6 in the process.

The inspector general at DHS also notified Congress last month that text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 were “erased” as part of a device replacement program.

The Secret Service contends any text messages that might be missing were lost through a software transition.

The effort to obtain Pentagon texts could have shed light on why the National Guard faced delays in getting approval to go to the Capitol as it was under siege.

The suit sought the military leaders’ communications with former President Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows. The request also asked for communications from Kash Patel, Miller’s chief of staff; Paul Ney, the Defense Department general counsel; and James E. McPherson, the Army’s general counsel.

Patel was also subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

American Oversight sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate, noting that each official’s phone appears to have been wiped after their records request was filed.

more
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3585008-dod-wiped-phones-of-trump-era-leaders-erasing-jan-6-texts/

[Hoodat]

.  .  .The disclosure follows news that numerous officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also had their messages erased during the transition, including former acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his deputy Ken Cuccinelli. Both had their phones reset following the inauguration, losing any texts from Jan. 6 in the process.  .  .

So the Biden Administration wiped the phones.  Classic.

[Smokin Joe]

So the Biden Administration wiped the phones.  Classic.

While they will spin this as a coverup for Trump, I would surmise that any evidence erased was exculpatory in nature. Otherwise, even incompetents would have preserved it.

(How much do a handful of phones cost, anyway?)

[EdinVA]

The Never Trumpers erased the files as there was nothing incriminating in them so by wiping the information we are left to our imagination and can speculate on all sorts of crime and dirt.

[DefiantMassRINO]

There are piecemeal remnants and metadata of those messages out in the ether.

[Smokin Joe]

The Never Trumpers erased the files as there was nothing incriminating in them so by wiping the information we are left to our imagination and can speculate on all sorts of crime and dirt.

It isn't what you suspect, or even what you believe, or even what you can buffalo others to believe so much as what you can prove.

Erasing evidence of wrongdoing would be counterproductive for the rats, especially after 7 years of digging and coming up with nothing--they wouldn't throw away a diamond in a pig sty, so the only reason to erase those texts is that they were either benign or exculpatory.

The latter is a destruction of Brady Material, and illegal in and of itself.

[Cyber Liberty]

First it was the Secret Service refreshing the phones at a very convenient time, now it's the DoD.  Coinky-dink for sure.

(In IT lingo, "refresh" means destroying or decommissioning old equipment, and replacing with brand new.)

[Hoodat]

First it was the Secret Service refreshing the phones at a very convenient time, now it's the DoD.  Coinky-dink for sure.

Whoever was in charged when these phones were erased should be IMPEACHED!