Democratic lawmakers are calling for Joseph Cuffari, the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, to resign after he admitted to deleting text messages from his government phone. Photo courtesy of House Oversight Committee
June 8 (UPI) — Democratic lawmakers are calling for Joseph Cuffari, the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, to resign after he admitted to deleting text messages from his government phone.
Cuffari, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, told the House Oversight Committee during a hearing Tuesday that it is his “normal practice to delete text messages” and confirmed that he does so on a regular basis.
“I don’t use my government cell phone to conduct official business,” Cuffari told lawmakers Thursday.
During the hearing, Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., questioned Cuffari if that meant he was conducting personal business on his government cell phone.
Cuffari pushed back that the messages he deleted would not be federal records requiring them to be preserved.
“It’s a clearly defined statute that places requirements on what a federal record actually is,” Cuffari had said.
Ivey and Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, penned a letter to Cuffari on Thursday calling on him to resign for “willful and intentional acts that may constitute criminal violations of the Federal Records Act.”
“You are unfit to lead an agency responsible for preventing and detecting fraud and abuse in government programs and operations,” the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers noted that federal records, as defined by the law, include “all recorded information, regardless of form or characteristics, made or received by a Federal agency under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business.”
DHS directives further state that all employees must “ensure all records are properly maintained” and that it is not Cuffari’s decision to make whether the records would be required to be preserved or not.
“It is 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. Because you apparently admitted to multiple violations of Federal criminal law, you should resign immediately,” the letter reads.
“This is not your first time being associated with the improper deletion of Federal records,” the letter states.
Cuffari, the lawmakers noted, also had failed to notify Congress as required by law that a trove of U.S. Secret Service text messages relating to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, had been deleted and neglected to thoroughly investigate sexual harassment claims and other issues in the department.
As noted by The Hill, Cuffari can not be removed from his post by Congress and can only be removed by President Joe Biden.