I guess we should have been expecting this, but it is still shocking:

CNN

“The Defense Department wiped the phones of top departing DOD and Army officials at the end of the Trump administration, deleting any texts from key witnesses to events surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, according to court filings.

The acknowledgment that the phones from the Pentagon officials had been wiped was first revealed in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit American Oversight brought against the Defense Department and the Army. The watchdog group is seeking January 6 records from former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, former chief of staff Kash Patel, and former Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, among other prominent Pentagon officials — having filed initial FOIA requests just a few days after the Capitol attack.

Miller, Patel and McCarthy have all been viewed as crucial witnesses for understanding government’s response to the January 6 Capitol assault and former President Donald Trump’s reaction to the breach. All three were involved in the Defense Department’s response to sending National Guard troops to the US Capitol as the riot was unfolding. There is no suggestion that the officials themselves erased the records.”

The rub here is that DOD Official’s phones are routinely wiped upon their departure, though only after they’ve been archived…

“A former Defense Department official from a previous administration told CNN that it is ingrained into new hires during their onboarding that their work devices were subject to the Presidential Records Act and indicated their communications would be archived. The source said it was assumed when they turned in their devices at the end of their employment, any communication records would be archived.”

But the Pentagon asserted to American Oversight repeatedly that the requested records “had not been preserved”.

So I guess they missed that step.

They are still looking for those pesky texts, but apparently are in no hurry…

“For those custodians still with the agency, Army has initiated a search for text messages responsive to the FOIA requests, and estimates completing their supplemental search by the end of September,” the Justice Department said in the July joint filing said in the case.“

So, just a couple of more months folks and we’ll know whether the computer ate them or what…

That time period conveniently stretches beyond the time the Jan 6th committee allotted for wrapping up their work.


Aren’t they though?


They’re making your job tough for you, Michael.

Yup.

11 COMMENTS

  1. Oh, I’m sure it’s just a strange coincidence, Nothing to see here.

    And you say Trump replaced all those people at the D.O.D. AFTER he lost? Well that’s odd?

    Still, I’m sure that’s all normal. Things go missing all the time, like no-one can find Hilary’s emails.

    <<>> As if that’s not obvious.

    4

    • The IG at the Pentagon needs to open an investigation NOW, if it hasn’t already been opened. The next step will be a formal request to establish a panel of retired JAG Officers to begin an Article 32 investigation of anyone still on active duty who was part of this intentional charlie-fox AND for those who have retired RECALL their asses to Active Duty. That would send a powerful message to whatever minion(s) got handed those phones and told to start wiping them and storage places where the data would have been backed up. That person or person could be reminded that each single device wiped is a separate charge and that once convicted the sentences can be served CONSECUTIVELY and that’s what will surely happen. Shit will be revealed awful quick at that point and the military folks will roll on the civilians.

      7

      • The timing of this news tells me that such an investigation is already underway. Things like this come out not by accident but because someone wants to send a simple message: “talk or else.”

        5

  5. Every member of the mob knows the rules; never rat on your friends, & keep your mouth shut. Erasing records is child’s play. Wonder who will disappear by being shot, wrapped in chicken wire, so the critters can eat you, preventing gas bloating & floating up from the body of water you’ve been dumped in? That sound you hear is the splash when rats jump ship.

    3

  6. Because x of course they did,,and with full knowledge that it broke the law. Gotta wonder what those texts x will reveal.when found. If it didn’t incriminate them,,they wouldn’t have bothered. Everyone in Trump’s administration needed to be regarded as guilty intil.proven innocent. They do it with Hunter’s laptop which the reds said was most likely disinformation with a,sketchy provenance.

    1

  7. I heard that water boarding works well and that the dod likes to use it on others. Maybe its time to use it on the dod. We could also learn about the bribes and kickbacks so prevelant in the defense department contract biz and how boeing and its “suppliers” get away without paying taxes on those TRILLIONS of dollars of contracts

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