Top Democrats in the House of Representatives are pushing for a federal investigation into Joseph Cuffari, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, over his self-admitted “normal practice to delete text messages” from his government-issued phone, in possible violation of federal laws.
The inspector general has faced criticism for months, stemming from reports that he hadn’t told lawmakers that Secret Service officials had erased text messages that had been subpoenaed as part of the House’s investigation into the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. He testified before the House last week that he regularly purges texts from his phone.
In a letter sent Monday to the head of the National Archives, several Democrats asked for an investigation into Cuffari’s destruction of government records and to report back to Congress. The signees were Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Gerry Connolly of Virginia, Robert Garcia of California and Kweisi Mfume of Illinois.
We write regarding alarming new information that Joseph V. Cuffari, Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), may have violated federal law by willfully destroying federal records and not reporting the destruction to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) as required by law. We are deeply troubled by Mr. Cuffari’s flagrant disregard for the Federal Records Act, and we ask that you immediately conduct an investigation into his potential unlawful destruction of federal records and report your findings to our Committee.
The Democrats also raised alarm over a “convoluted” response Cuffari gave when asked what kind of business he was conducting on his government-issued phone.
Inspector General Cuffari also provided a highly unusual and convoluted response to questions on his use of his government issued cell phone. Inspector General Cuffari said that he “[does not] use [his] government cell phone to conduct official business.” However, when pressed about how he uses his government issued phone, Inspector General Cuffari testified ‘to conduct business.’ In a follow-up response, Inspector General Cuffari stated, “Not federal business considering that they are records.”
Former President Donald Trump’s federal indictment seems to have raised the stakes for any claim that someone has intentionally withheld or destroyed files that conceivably could belong to the U.S. government. With that in mind, it seems very likely that the probe into Cuffari — and his tense relationship with the lawmakers trying to conduct oversight — will escalate if his apparent stonewalling continues.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.