Andrew Caballero Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images The Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog has opened a criminal investigation into the destruction of Secret Service phone text messages related to the days surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The Secret Service was notified of the investigation Wednesday night by the DHS inspector general’s office, which ordered the agency to cease any internal investigation into the deleted text messages, NBC reported. The House Select Committee investigating the riot on Capitol Hill last week issued a subpoena to the Secret Service seeking text messages after learning from the IG that the messages from January 5 and 6, 2021 had been deleted, allegedly as a result of a “device replacement program .” On Wednesday, the committee said the Secret Service may have violated federal records-keeping law in deleting the messages. DHS Deputy Inspector General Gladys Ayala in her letter to Secret Service Director James Murray wrote later Wednesday: “To ensure the integrity of our investigation, the USSS should not engage in further investigative activities related to the collection and preservation of the evidence referred to above’. “This includes immediately refraining from interviewing potential witnesses, collecting devices, or taking any other action that could interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation,” Ayala wrote. The Secret Service said in a statement Thursday that it had “received the letter from the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security.” “We informed the Select Committee on January 6 of the Inspector General’s request and will conduct a thorough legal review to ensure that we are fully cooperating with all oversight efforts and that they do not conflict with each other,” the Secret Service said. News of the criminal investigation came hours before the House committee investigating the right wing of Capitol Hill was set to hold a hearing on President Donald Trump’s inaction that day.
