Washington D.C. (August 5, 2024) | Last week, on August 2, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) released a redacted version of the January 6th DHS OIG United States Secret Service report to the American public. This 82-page report details the United States Secret Service (USSS) failed response to multiple events on January 6, 2021.
On January 6, USSS was responsible for securing former President Trump's speech at the Ellipse, protecting and moving then-Vice President Mike Pence, and protecting and moving then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. This report identified serious failures by the USSS with respect to communications with other law enforcement agencies and the USSS failing to properly secure the DNC where the USSS failed to detect an explosive device in front of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) where then-Vice President-elect Harris was driven within feet of the device.
Upon review of the redacted report, this week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11), Chairman of the Committee on House Administration's Oversight Subcommittee, released the following top takeaways and areas of concern.
- USSS Admits to Interfering with DHS OIG Investigation
The USSS, in its Management Response, sent by former USSS Director, Kim Cheatle, admitted to delaying and interfering with the DHS OIG investigation. Specifically, Cheatle stated she considered asking Secretary Mayorkas to invoke his statutory authority to block the review in its entirety. Cheatle did not confirm if she ever asked Secretary Mayorkas to block the DHS OIG review or not.
Cheatle also wrote that USSS wanted to internally review records before USSS employees provided the records to the DHS OIG. This is highly questionable and could have prevented USSS employees from being fully transparent with the DHS OIG.
Additionally, Cheatle cited the DHS OIG’s request for communications from “most senior levels ofSecret Service leadership” including the Director, and Deputy Director, and one DHS OIG request as one reason they did not comply. It is not clear why Cheatle thought that the senior-level leadership at USSS should be exempt from the DHS OIG’s scrutiny. Cheatle subsequently references the Presidential Records Act and the Privacy Act, which do not apply to Inspectors General requests for information.
- The Mayorkas/Biden/Harris Department of Homeland Security deleted USSS text messages despite numerous letters from Congressional Committees and the DHS OIG and sought to prevent scrutiny of senior USSS leadership's messages
Numerous House Committees, led by Democrats, sent letters to Secretary Mayorkas demanding preservation of electronic communications including Oversight, Homeland Security, Judiciary, House Administration, and House Armed Services Committee. In August 2021 the former Select Committee also requested these electronic messages.
The first letters were sent on January 16, 2021—before the USSS claims the data migration process began.
USSS claims these texts were deleted as part of a preplanned data migration conducted starting January 27 through April of 2021 but USSS does not explain why the Department did not pause or cancel this data migration given the events of January 6 and after receiving preservation letters from Congressional committees.
USSS does not explain why no backups were kept of these relevant electronic communications. Additionally, in correspondence with the January 6 Select Committee on September 9, 2022 the USSS specifically stated that it searched for text messages and [n]o messages either dated or concerning any of the Select Committees [sic] inquiries specific to January 5 or January 6, 2021, were located. The USSS did not mention the data migration or that all of these messages had been permanently erased.
The USSS did not notify the DHS OIG that it had deleted these records until February 23, 2022. It is not clear when, if ever, the USSS notified Congressional oversight committees that it had deleted these records. The DHS OIG’s investigation is separate and independent from Congressional investigations and USSS had an obligation to notify Congressional oversight committees of this significant issue. While Inspectors General do provide accountability, they must conduct investigations and only report findings to Congress consistent with best practices. Therefore it is not a concern or surprise that the DHS OIG did not immediately notify Congress when it learned these records were erased.
- DHS OIG Identified communication challenges as a significant issue for USSS on January 6
Specifically, USSS had issues communicating with local law enforcement on January 6 as a significant issue that should be addressed. According to the DHS OIG report, USSS was unable to effectively communicate with USCP when then-Vice President Pence was at the U.S. Capitol with rioters in the building. This issue appears to be very similar to challenges USSS had communicating with local law enforcement on July 13, 2024, during the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, PA.
Additionally, USSS additionally did not conduct an after-action review of their support mission to the U.S. Capitol, leaving these communication breakdowns unaddressed.
- The DHS OIG report confirmed that there was never a plan for President Trump to go to the Capitol prior to January 6. President Trump requested to go to the Capitol following his speech at the Ellipse, but USSS advised against it and President Trump returned to the White House and that Trump never lunged or grabbed the USSS agents in the vehicle
The DHS OIG directly refutes two major claims made by Cassidy Hutchinson, which the former Democrat Select Committee stated in its final report were credible. The DHS OIG report confirms what the Oversight Subcommittee learned from first-hand witnesses who were interviewed by the former Democrat Select Committee but whose testimony was never released publicly by the Select Committee:
The DHS OIG Confirmed that there was never a plan for Donald Trump to go to the Capitol on January 6, 2021. As Donald Trump has acknowledged numerous times, he, unplanned, asked the USSS to take him to the Capitol after the Ellipse rally but was told no and they returned to the White House. The DHS OIG confirmed this.
The DHS OIG also confirmed Trump never lunged at a USSS agents in the vehicle after the Ellipse rally. First-hand accounts of that day previously published by the Oversight Subcommittee in our Initial Findings Report, and now the DHS OIG report, indicate Cassidy's testimony was false.
- USSS did not appropriately empale the explosive detection tactics and measures for the DNC security sweep because Kamala Harris was a Vice President "elect"
This is including, but not limited to, the USSS canine team not sweeping the bushes, within feet ofwhere the motorcade passed and where the pipe bomb was found.
BACKGROUND
July 16, 2024: Oversight Subcommittee staff reached out to DHS OIG inquiring about the status of this report
July 19, 2024: Oversight Subcommittee staff learned that the report, The Secret Service’s Preparation for, and Response to, the Events of January 6, 2021, was complete and on Secretary Mayorkas’ desk for final approval
July 23, 2024: Rep. Loudermilk waived on to an Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing with the head of CIGIE, a group tasked with issuing standards for Inspectors General. During this hearing, Rep. Loudermilk confronted CIGIE about Mayorkas delaying the release of the DHS OIG report, to which CIGIE Chair Greenblatt said it was inappropriate.
July 24, 2024: Rep. Loudermilk sent a letter to Secretary Mayorkas demanding the immediate release ofthe report titled, The Secret Service’s Preparation for, and Response to, the Events of January 6, 2021.
August 1, 2024: DHS OIG released a redacted advance copy of the report entitled, "The Secret Service’s Preparation for, and Response to, the Events of January 6, 2021" to Congress.
August 2, 2024: DHS OIG released the report to the American public.
To view the full redacted report, click here.
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