Joe Biden refuses to fire DHS official embroiled in J6 text deletion scandal

President Joe Biden will not fire the Department of Security inspector general accused of a "cover-up of treason" for the deletion of Jan. 6 text messages that were critical evidence for those investigating Donald Trump's unsuccessful coup attempt, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump in 2019, reportedly knew about the missing messages in May of 2021, but Congress was not notified until 14 months later, despite the notification being required by law.

At her daily press briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre asked about the scandal.

"Does the president have any plans to intervene or fire IG DHS Joseph Cuffari?" a reporter asked.

"No," Jean-Pierre replied.

"There's no personnel updates that I have for you at this time," Jean-Pierre said.

"Does the president have confidence that given what has unfolded recently, does he still have confidence in his ability to do that job?" she was asked.

"It's important to do the job that the inspector general is doing," Jean-Pierre said. "We have confidence in that and again we're not going to comment anymore, any further than that, but we have seen the reports."

Cuffari oversees a staff of 750 to audit DHS, which has 240,000 employees and a $50 billion budget.

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