I would like to say that this amazes me, but instead, it just brings a sick feeling to the pit of my stomach, simply because cover-your-ass protocols are all too prevalent in the government.
MSNBC is reporting that the Secret Service deleted cell phone texts from agents involved in White House security that were sent on January 5-6th. This isn’t based on undisclosed sources, it is from a letter from the DHS Inspector General, based on a request he had made to the secret Service for an investigation he was undertaking.
The problem is this. The Secret Service isn’t even bothering to deny that the data was deleted. Their exculpatory explanation statement is a dog’s breakfast of bullshit. They claim that the records were deleted as part of a preplanned, 3 month long effort to upgrade Secret Security phones to a faster speed system. Move along, move along, nothing to see here.
Here’s where the wheels fall of. Those records were deleted after the DHS IG had requested that they be preserved and forwarded to him. All off those texts are covered under the Official Records Avt. They must be preserved and forwarded to the National Archives.
Here’s the problem. As former US prosecutor Glenn Kirschner said on MSNBC tonight, If it was preplanned, that’s fine. They can delete phones all the way to January 4th, no problem. But after January 5-6th, you put your stupid replacement program on hold for those phones, if for no better than evidentiary value.
Let’s not forget that this is the same Secret Service that is negotiating with the J6 committee as to under which terms the agents in the motorcade vehicle in which Trump allegedly assaulted officers on January 6th can testify. And let’s remember that a Secret Service agent on the presidential detail left the office to go to work for the Trump administration.
The speculation is already running wild. Were there texts from Trump’s chief of detail, ordering that Pence be forcibly removed from the Capitol? Were there texts from Pence’s detail, talking about forcibly removing Pence from the Capitol? Enquiring minds want to know.
Sadly this is not the first time that the Secret Service has stepped on it’s crank in trying to cover up a scandal. Following the Warren Commission Report on the Kennedy assassination, a congressional committee investigating the issue requested reports from the Secret Service from the Chicago and Miami offices talking about an elevated threat to Kennedy in Dallas from An assassin in a high elevation situation. Only to be told that the records had been shredded as part of a scheduled housekeeping operation.
How about something a little more recent. In 2012, then President Obama went to South America, and one of his stops was in Colombia. And then all hell broke loose. Allegations were that 11 Secret Service agents took no less than 20 Colombian prostitutes up to their rooms, and then threw them into the hallway without bothering to pay them. Unfortunately for the agents, the prostitutes called the cops, and everything went to hell in a handbasket. It was a scandal that Obama didn’t need, and didn’t want.
You know, people were shocked and outraged at the images of CBP agents tearing infants and toddlers from their mothers arms at the southern border, and demanded that the department be disbanded and reconstituted. But the Secret Service has been quietly getting away with this shit for more than a half a century now. Time for a deep house-cleaning, with industrial strength Clorox.
Nothing from the internet ever disappears. Those texts are out there.
Get ALL of the SS from during former guy’s time in office in front of attorneys from D.O.J. immediately. Then haul their asses off to the pokey. Notice, no presumption of innocence on this one.
They need to.be investigated and not by a higher-up. Biden was,smart to require his former VP detail and got Trump’s men rotated out of first family protection.
Gotta wonder if the reason Pence refused to.go with his detail was fear of what might happen to.him and his family. I suspect it had more to do with fear of lethal consequences than out of ethics. He never had enough of a spine to stand up to fat Donnie before, after all.
Dont forget, pence was a former state cop…..
Whatever thats worth….
It’s worth remembering that for much our lives the Secret Service had a well-earned and solid reputation. A LOT of soul searching went on in the aftermath of JFK’s assassination, and some subsequent stuff and the Treasury Dept. put real resources into transforming that formerly small unit of the VIP protection details into a cohesive, well-trained unit.
Yes folks, especially you younger ones there was a time when the Secret Service was part (an elite part) of the Dept. of the Treasury and Treasury Agents around the country might not have been well-liked by criminals (counterfeiters, bank robbers, scammers and other financial crimes) but the Special Agents in enforcement have proven over a very long time to be very good at what they did and unlike the FBI kept a much lower profile. They have had no choice but to establish decent working relationships with state and local LE, as well as with the FBI which is why for so long when Presidents and other bigwigs under their protection travelled they had a range of relationships and resources to call upon to marshal the personnel needed to provide proper security.
The people on the VIP, and especially Presidential Protection details had to earn their place to be considered for such duty and of course those Special Agents that even got considered were the cream of the crop. They were elite but didn’t go making a public fuss about it, and in fact went to great pains to be low-key and professional as well as squeaky clean because they were in the Treasury Dept. and could easily be reassigned to lesser duty if they slipped up either personally or professionally even a little bit.
So what changed? They got taken out of Treasury and made into their own department within the Dept. of Homeland Security and politics with a capital P infused their ranks. The Secret Service has fallen off because they were removed from a tightly controlled and damned near apolitical command structure. And the ugly results have been there for all to see – over and over.
I’ve long maintained that it needs to go back to the old way – make them part of the Dept. of Treasury again and force those who aspire to the “cool” stuff like Protection details to earn the fucking privilege. And have the threat of being reassigned to duty in bumfuck nowhere, USA if they slip up even a little – just like things used to be.
Politicians including the Secretary of the Treasury used to have nothing to do with the running of the Secret Service, with I guess the Sec. of Treasury pushing their budget through each year. It needs to be that way again.
Sorry, changing / upgrading a mobile device does not result in message deletion.
And why is the Secret Service, or any governmental agency, allowed to use SMS for official communications? They should have that feature blocked on their government-issued devices and be forced to use a secure app that encrypts and archives communications.
I once played golf with an agent that guarded multiple presidents. He told some funny stories. He was a stand up guy. This was over 20 years ago & I know he would cringe at the asshats Trump put in charge & the lack of loyalty to the fucking constitution & the truth.
Ever notice that many working in our government are neither the best nor the brightest? The insurrection goes from scotus right down to the beat cops. Flynn was to lead the army, scotus was to legitimize it, the kochs paid for it.
We have the best government that money can buy!
We have the Kochs to thank for a lot. A lot of control, I mean. They were smart and built up the right wing in local and state offices, and now we’re paying dearly for it. They used tactics that were shady, but smart. I have no respect for them or the politicians they bought.
This is what they make movies about. Unfortunately we are living in the set. I seen retired Federal Prosecutor Glenn Kirshner go off about this. Why is that clown Trump still out on the street doing rallies and getting millions while people are under death threats and even on the evidence that’s floating around. He knows he could make a case that would put the clown in prison. Merrick Garland needs to step up and do his job. Trump has gone way past the he’s a former president. The asshole is a future dictator if someone doesn’t put his ass in jail. I seen this morning that a big dog republican called up a Democrat official and said he wanted his guy on the ballot even though someone else got the votes. Official said I don’t think I can do that. It’s illegal. I will have to talk to my attorney. Other asshole said Hey, don’t bother. We’ve done this so often it would clog the court system. Anyone see anything wrong with that.