Jan. 6 committee member reveals they've received new evidence in trove of documents and texts from Secret Service
The U.S. Secret Service has been under fire since a summer report that they scrubbed their phones and other systems without backing them up despite being told to preserve documents. Now it's being revealed that there's more information being turned over to the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Congress.
The Secret Service has long said that they were cooperating and they didn't need to be subpoenaed. Robert Engel and Tony Ornato both testified behind closed doors to the committee, but it was before White House aid Cassidy Hutchinson spoke publicly and recalled conversations she'd had with Ornato. It was reported by CNN that Ornato was working for the Secret Service at the time he was working behind the scenes to undermine Hutchinson. He has since "retired."
Speaking to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) indicated that there is a lot more the committee has learned about the Secret Service than the public is aware of. Lofgren wouldn't give details, but she said that they've been able to gather a trove of information from them.
"Are you still seeking the testimony of Tony Ornato and the other agents?" asked Wallace. "I remember you sharing with us, that they have obtained private counsel."
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"The answer is yes. We will do that in an orderly fashion when we have had an opportunity to review the large amount of documentary evidence that has now come in from the Secret Service. It's important that we get that information reviewed before we reinterview him," said Lofgren.
"Do you have new evidence that wasn't at your disposal at the time of the last public hearing ended?" Wallace asked.
Lofgren simply said that the committee does have new information.
"Care to categorize any of that?" Wallace asked.
"No," Lofgren said flatly. "You know our rules don't allow us to categorize or discuss the evidence, but new information has come in. And some of it is very pertinent. Some of it is less relevant, but it's been a large volume of information that we really pressed hard for the agency to release. They should have done so before we had to issue subpoenas earlier this summer. But there's now a very steady flow of data coming into the committee and it's a huge amount. It takes a little bit to go through it all."
Wallace went on to ask about the text messages that were deleted even after they were told to prepare to turn over information. Wallace asked if there were other sources for those texts.
"I didn't say what specific types of information. I mean, I really am not at liberty to do that under the committee rules," said Lofgren. "There's texts, there's e-mails, that's radio, there's all kinds of information. So, we're going through everything that's been provided. More is coming in. As I say, some of it is not relevant and some of it is. And it's a huge slog to go through it, but we're going to go through it. And the members of the committee themselves have been involved in this. And we hope to have that completed soon."
See the interview clip below or at this link.
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