House committee leaders ask for new IG to investigate deleted Secret Service texts

July 27 (UPI) -- Angered over not being informed about the erasures of Secret Service text messages during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Democratic leaders of two prominent House committees are asking for a new inspector general to investigate.

Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., made the request Tuesday in a letter to the Council of Inspectors General.

Thompson and Maloney said in the letter that Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Ciffari failed "to inform Congress of deleted Secret Service text messages in a timely manner despite being required by law." Both asked the council to select a different inspector general to investigate the matter.

The Department of Homeland Security oversees the Secret Service.

"Inspector General Cuffari is required by law to 'immediately' report problems or abuses that are 'particularly serious or flagrant,'" the letter from Thompson and Maloney said.

"Yet, Inspector General Cuffari failed to provide adequate or timely notice that the Secret Service had refused for months to comply with DHS Office of Inspector General requests for information related to the Jan. 6 attack and failed to notify Congress after [he] learned that the Secret Service had erased text messages related to this matter."

The Secret Service has said the messages were erased as part of a routine system migration.

"These omissions left Congress in the dark about key developments in this investigation and may have cost investigators precious time to capture relevant evidence," Thompson and Maloney added, saying that Cuffari's failure to make proper notification "cast serious doubt" on his independence and his ability to effectively conduct an investigation.

Maloney and Thompson sent a letter to the Homeland Security Department several days after the Capitol attack requesting any related documents and materials. Cuffari's office requested electronic communications from the Secret Service for its own investigation the following month.

Thompson is the chair of the House Jan. 6 committee and Maloney is chair of the House oversight committee.