It has been reported that the now-disbanded House Select Committee on Jan. 6, dissolved after the 2022 midterm elections, deleted and encrypted over 100 files related to its investigation into the Capitol riot. Fox News Digital’s report indicates that the House Administration Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee, currently conducting its own inquiry into the security lapses on Jan. 6, 2021, unearthed the missing files during an examination of data transferred by the former select committee.
Led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), the Oversight Subcommittee is delving into the actions of the former select committee, previously chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), which had subpoenaed numerous witnesses and documents concerning the Capitol attack.
Loudermilk revealed that the investigation has entered a “new phase” with the support of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who has allocated additional resources to the panel.
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According to sources familiar with the inquiry, House rules mandated the former select committee to hand over all its records to the new committee after the Republicans regained control in the 2022 midterms. However, it is alleged that Thompson provided only about two terabytes of data, despite claiming to have archived four terabytes with the Clerk of the House.
To ascertain the withheld information, the Oversight Subcommittee enlisted the services of a digital forensics team, which discovered that 117 files were deleted and encrypted by the former select committee on Jan. 1, 2023, just days before the data transfer deadline.
While the forensics team successfully recovered all the deleted and encrypted files, they remain inaccessible without the necessary passwords.
A letter obtained by Fox News Digital, dated Monday, was sent by Loudermilk to Thompson, demanding the passwords for the recovered files. Loudermilk accused Thompson of violating House rules by failing to archive all the records and by diverting some to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security.
Loudermilk challenged Thompson’s assertion of providing four terabytes of data, stating that the archived hard drives contained less than three terabytes. The forensic team, according to Loudermilk, uncovered “numerous digital records,” including one that disclosed the identity of a witness whose testimony was not archived.
Loudermilk emphasized in the letter, “I request that you provide me a list of passwords for all password-protected files created by the Select Committee so that we can access these files and ensure they are properly archived.”
The letter from Loudermilk comes amidst escalating criticism and legal challenges faced by the former select committee from Republicans, who accuse it of being a partisan witch hunt and a violation of due process. Former Trump administration officials and allies, subpoenaed by the former select committee, have sued to block the enforcement of subpoenas, claiming they are invalid and unconstitutional.
As of press time, Thompson has not responded to Loudermilk’s letter. A spokesperson for the former select committee declined to comment on the allegations of deleting and encrypting files, stating that the committee had “fulfilled its obligations” under House rules.
