Oversight Democrats call for investigation after DHS IG admits to deleting texts

House Oversight Democrats are asking the National Archives to determine whether the inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) violated the law after he told lawmakers he regularly deletes text messages from his government phone.

The admission means Inspector General Joseph Cuffari could be in violation of both the Federal Records Act and DHS policy on records retention — rules he is responsible for assuring are complied with throughout the department.

“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,” lawmakers wrote in a letter spearheaded by ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and obtained by The Hill.

Cuffari answered “yes” last week when Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) asked him during an appearance before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee if he deletes text messages from his phone.

“It’s my normal practice to delete text messages,” Cuffari said, answering, “correct,” when Ivey asked if he does this on an ongoing basis.

The lawmakers Monday also blasted Cuffari’s “highly unusual and convoluted response” when asked about the nature of the records on his phone.

“I don’t use my government cellphone to conduct official business,” Cuffari told House lawmakers last week, though he pushed back when Ivey asked if the messages he deleted were related to personal business.

“I did not consider those to be federal records and therefore I deleted them,” Cuffari said. “It’s a clearly defined statute that places requirements on what a federal record actually is.”

The Monday letter asks the National Archives to weigh in, noting that federal agencies are required to alert Archives about any destruction of records, whether accidental or intentional.

Archives’ Office of Inspector General in March was alerted to Cuffari’s practices.

The Project on Government Oversight has previously revealed a December email circulating within DHS’s Office of Inspector General detailing that “a custodian indicated the text messages were deleted, in their entirety, from their government issued iPhone, and that the relevant policy for capturing such messages was not followed.”

Cuffari’s office did not respond to a request for comment. The Archives declined to comment. 

Cuffari, a Trump appointee, is under investigation by the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.

Raskin asked Archives to consider a referral to the Department of Justice if they determine Cuffari violated the law.

“NARA should also consult with the Department of Justice, as appropriate, if evidence confirms that Inspector General Cuffari or other senior officials failed to notify NARA about their unlawful destruction of federal records, in violation of the law,” they wrote, using an abbreviation for Archives.

Ivey and House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) last week called for Cuffari to resign, calling it “troubling, to say the least, that you have been routinely destroying or deleting official government records in violation of a law that your office is supposed to enforce.”

Cuffari’s views on record retention are particularly notable because he was under fire last year for failing to alert Congress in a timely manner that Secret Service text messages from Jan. 6, 2021, were apparently lost during a software migration. 

There are multiple provisions in the Inspectors General Act that require notifying agency heads or Congress about “particularly serious or flagrant problems,” in some cases within seven days.

Cuffari has also faced bipartisan scrutiny in the Senate, with Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) accusing him of suppressing a report about sexual harassment at DHS.

Updated at 4:36 p.m.