Top Democrats say a government watchdog may have covered-up missing Secret Service texts

• Top Democrats say there is a lack of transparency on the Secret Service texts probe.
• They requested for DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari to step down from his position.

Two top Democratic lawmakers accused the Department of Homeland Security's independent watchdog of covering up parts of its investigation into missing Secret Service text messages sent on and around the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney of New York wrote a letter to DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari on Monday detailing new reports that his agency quietly gave up on trying to recover the missing texts and took steps to cover that up.

"We are writing with grave new concerns over your lack of transparency and independence, which appear to be jeopardizing the integrity of a crucial investigation run by your office," the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

The lawmakers referenced a new report from CNN that alleges that investigators knew for more than a year that the Secret Service text messages had been erased. But lawmakers noted that Cuffari only notified Congress for the first time last month about these erased text messages.

"These documents also indicate that your office may have taken steps to cover up the extent of missing records," the letter states.

The lawmakers reiterated their request for Cuffari, who was nominated by Trump, to step down from his position and appoint a new inspector general. They also requested transcribed interviews from key DHS IG officials and documents related to the investigation.

The DHS Inspector General's office has not responded to Insider's request to comment on the letter.

The letter comes after Cuffari informed the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection that the Secret Service erased text messages around the time of the attack after he requested the agency's electronic communications. The Secret Service has pushed back on that claim and said these messages were deleted due to a "device replacement program."

The controversy around the Secret Service text messages intensified after the committee held a congressional hearing where a former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified that on January 6, Trump ordered the Secret Service to take him to the US Capitol. She said that Trump allegedly reached for the vehicle's steering wheel after he was told he couldn't go.

The Secret Service text messages can may offer lawmakers and the public more insight into Trump's actions that day.