Days before a Republican majority took over the House of Representatives, the Democrats in charge of the committee investigating the events of January 6, 2021, allegedly deleted half the data uncovered in the probe rather than turn it over to the new committee heads.
The House Administration Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee, currently chaired by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), is looking into the actions of the former House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Fox News reported.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the chair of the former select committee, was responsible for turning over all the investigation documents to the incoming Republican leadership. Republican committee leaders expected four terabytes of archived digital data, but only about two terabytes were relayed.
Loudermilk’s subcommittee brought in a digital forensics team that identified 117 deleted and encrypted files just days before they were to be transferred. The forensics team recovered all the deleted and encrypted files, but the subcommittee is still missing the passwords to access the data.
Loudermilk was compelled to send a letter to Thompson stating that the previous select committee did not “archive all Committee records as required by House Rules,” including “specific transcribed interviews and depositions” that were sent to the White House and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) but were not preserved for the incoming committee.
The letter added that Thompson “claimed that you turned over 4 terabytes of digital files, but the hard drives archived by the Select Committee with the Clerk of the House contain less than 3 terabytes of data.” Loudermilk also said in the letter that “we found that most of the recovered files are password-protected, preventing us from determining what they contain.”
Loudermilk also sent a letter to the general counsels of the White House and DHS, requesting “unedited and unredacted transcripts” of White House and DHS testimony before the committee when it was under Democrat control.
When House Democrats formed the select committee, its final composition comprised seven Democrats and two Republicans (Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL). Both Cheney and Kinzinger were appointed by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and were staunchly opposed to former President Donald Trump, whom the Democrat-helmed committee eventually argued should be charged for trying to stage an “insurrection.”
Republican members recommended for the committee by then-minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) included staunch Trump allies like Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Jim Banks (IN). When they were rejected by Pelosi, McCarthy withdrew his other Republican nominees as well, leaving the committee completely comprised of anti-Trump lawmakers.
“It’s obvious that Pelosi’s Select Committee went to great lengths to prevent Americans from seeing certain documents produced in their investigation. It also appears that Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney intended to obstruct our Subcommittee by failing to preserve critical information and videos as required by House rules,” Loudermilk said, per Fox News.