“These omissions have left Congress in the dark about key developments in this investigation and may cost investigators valuable time to capture relevant evidence,” the Democrats wrote. “There should be no doubt that the Inspector General leading this investigation can conduct it thoroughly and with integrity, objectivity and independence. We have no confidence that Inspector General Cuffari can achieve these standards.” In the letter, the lawmakers wrote that the inspector general told Congress in November 2021 that DHS had “significantly delayed” access to records related to the Jan. 6 review, but that the inspector general did not say the Secret Service was the reason. Additionally, Cuffari was informed in December 2021 that text messages “sent and received by Secret Service agents related to the events of January 6 had been deleted,” Maloney and Thompson wrote. “However, Inspector General Cuffari took no action to notify Congress of this serious and egregious violation of federal records laws,” the lawmakers said. “The DHS IG’s failure to timely report and escalate the Secret Service’s obstruction calls into question whether Inspector General Cuffari has the professional judgment and ability to effectively perform his duties in this investigation.” The Democrats’ letter underscores tensions between the inspector general and the Democratic committees after the Secret Service emails became public two weeks ago. A House select committee has since subpoenaed the Secret Service over the texts — but the inspector general has ordered the agency to halt its own investigation because of the inspector general’s “ongoing criminal investigation.” CNN has reached out to the inspector general’s office for comment. On July 14, Cuffari told the House and Senate Homeland Security committees that DHS “notified us that several US Secret Service text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021 were deleted as part of a device replacement program.” The next day, Cuffari briefed a House select committee, and the committee issued a subpoena shortly thereafter for records from the Secret Service. Cuffari was appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2019 to head the DHS office of inspector general and faced criticism when he chose in 2020 not to investigate appointments of top acting DHS officials in the Trump administration. Cuffari is also the subject of an investigation run by the Council of Inspectors General for Integrity and Effectiveness (CIGIE), a federal government umbrella group tasked with looking into complaints against an inspector general. The investigation stems from allegations of retaliation related to the approval of an independent report by law firm WilmerHale that was completed in late 2020 following allegations of unprofessional conduct by several top Homeland Security officials. In late 2020, WilmerHale completed its independent investigation into allegations that several senior officials engaged in a variety of unprofessional conduct “designed to undermine and violate the authority of the two Inspectors General (IGs) they reported to at DHS OIG from late 2017 to 2020.” Maloney and Thompson sent their letter Tuesday to Cuffari and Allison Lerner, who chairs the inspector general’s umbrella group. The Democratic chairmen added that it was “not the first time” that Cuffari had been reluctant to investigate the agency. “According to reports, Inspector General Cuffari previously declined to investigate the Secret Service’s actions regarding excessive use of force, as well as its protocols for protecting officials during the coronavirus pandemic, contrary to staff recommendations. DHS OIG career,” they wrote.
