The former House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol reportedly deleted more than 100 encrypted files from its records just days before Republicans took the majority in the House of Representatives in 2022, Congressional sources indicate. According to the members of the new Republican-led Subcommittee continuing the investigation, these missing files have raised questions about the actions and motivations of its Democrat-led precursor.
After the Republican Party secured a majority in the House after the 2022 midterm elections, the House Administration Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee took over the January 6th investigation. At that time, the select committee, which was comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans, was required to turn over all documents and evidence that contributed to its final report on the riot.
Under Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), the new subcommittee directed additional resources to investigate the security failures that allowed the riot to take place, but allegations about the actions of the previous investigation have reportedly expanded the scope of the inquiry.
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According to statements to Fox News from sources within Loudermilk’s office, the select committee was expected to turn over four terabytes of archived data from the investigation, consisting of an unknown number of documents, video footage, and other information. However, when files were handed over at the start of the next Congressional session, the subcommittee only received two terabytes.
Forensic analysis determined that 117 files had been encrypted and deleted on January 1, 2023, mere days before the transfer. All the files were successfully recovered but are still password-protected.
Related: Speaker Mike Johnson Publicly Releases 40,000 Hours of January 6 Security Footage
A letter from Loudermilk to select committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) demanded access to the files and answers about why they were deleted, stating that “specific transcribed interviews and depositions to the White House and Department of Homeland Security” were missing from the record.
A similar letter was sent to the general counsels of the White House and the DHS to request “unedited and unredacted transcripts” of these same interviews.
“It’s obvious that Pelosi’s Select Committee went to great lengths to prevent Americans from seeing certain documents produced in their investigation,” Loudermilk told Fox News. “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.”
“The American people deserve to know the full truth, and Speaker Johnson has empowered me to use all tools necessary to recover these documents to get the truth, and I will.”
Connor Walcott is a staff writer covering politics, culture, and business for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X (Twitter) and look for him on VT’s newest show, “The Unusual Suspects.”
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