Secret Service providing agents’ personal cell phone numbers to oversight entities
(CNN)Personal cell phone numbers of US Secret Service agents have been provided to oversight bodies looking into the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi would not confirm which oversight entities, but stressed USSS is in full cooperation as multiple inquiries are ongoing.
The agency was thrust into the center stage of the House select committee’s investigation into January 6 following former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony in June during a public hearing. Hutchinson claimed then-President Donald Trump attempted to force the Secret Service to take him to the Capitol as Congress worked to certify the 2020 election results.
Multiple sources told CNN it is an unusual step to provide personal cell phone numbers of Secret Service agents to investigators.
CNN previously reported that the US Secret Service erased text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021. The text messages at issue may have been deleted when the agency conducted a data migration of phones that began January 27, 2021.
Multiple oversight bodies, including the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, the National Archives and the House January committee, are either investigating or requesting more information about the USSS text messages. It’s not immediately clear whether these personal cell phone numbers from agents are related to those inquiries.
CNN recently reported the current USSS director, James Murray, is delaying his retirement, stressing the agency’s commitment to the investigations, such as the January 6 investigation.
“I feel strongly about using this time to oversee and ensure our agency’s continued cooperation, responsiveness, and full support with respect to ongoing Congressional and other inquiries,” he said in a message to his workforce.
ABC News first reported that personal cell phone numbers had been provided by USSS.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/07/politics/secret-service-personal-cell-phones-oversight/index.html
