Senior leadership at the Secret Service confiscated the cellphones of 24 agents involved in the agency’s response to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol and handed them over to the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General, according to two sources with knowledge of the action. It is unclear what, if any, information the Office of Inspector General has been able to obtain from the cellphones. One source familiar with the Secret Service decision to comply with Cuffari’s request said some agents were upset their leaders were quick to confiscate the phones without their input. The Secret Service has said the texts were lost as part of a previously planned systems upgrade that essentially restored the phones to factory settings. A spokesperson for the Secret Service declined to comment about the confiscated phones.

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