Sources have revealed that the U.S. Secret Service has given the Jan. 6 Select Committee a list of agency-issued cellphone numbers for agents based in Washington, D.C., during the time the panel is investigating.
With this data in hand, the panel could determine which agents’ call records they want to review, and if they do, they could ask for these records directly or subpoena cell phone providers for this information.
The Secret Service’s Inspector General responsible for investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot has also obtained a list of personal cell phone numbers.
The revelation about the data sharing comes after the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security, responsible for overseeing the agency, faced backslash for erasing agents’ text messages sent and received around the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
The backlash came after news broke that the Secret Service had revealed to Congress that messages had been deleted as part of a device replacement program.
The revelation came as the Jan. 6 panel had sought information from Secret Service agents who were in contact with Trump in the day of Jan. 6 after bombshell testimony was made by Cassidy Hutchinson about statements a Secret Service agent made to her.
But, according to Don Mihalek, an ABC News contributor and former senior Secret Service agent, the move to get information from the personal devices of federal agents is “highly unusual.”
Mihalek suggests the decision could be an effort by the agency to show its desire to cooperate with Congressional investigators. However, Mihalek also claimed the sharing of personal device information could create a tricky legal challenge in future.
