House Jan. 6 Committee deleted more than 100 encrypted files days before GOP took majority: Sources

EXCLUSIVE: The former House Select Committee on Jan. 6 deleted more than 100 encrypted files from its probe simply days before Republicans took over the bulk within the House of Representatives, Fox News Digital has discovered.

The House Administration Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee is main an investigation into Jan. 6, 2021, led by Chairman Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga. The panel is investigating the safety failures on that day, in addition to the “actions” of the previous choose committee investigating the Capitol riot.

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Loudermilk, final week, advised Fox News Digital his investigation has entered a “new phase” with renewed assist from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who has dedicated extra assets to the panel’s investigation.

Sources aware of Loudermilk’s investigation advised Fox News Digital that, per House guidelines, the previous choose committee, which was chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., was required to show over all paperwork from its investigation to the brand new, GOP-led panel, after Republicans secured nearly all of the House of Representatives following the 2022 midterm elections.

Trump supporters occupy the west entrance of the Capitol and the inauguration stands on Jan. 6, 2021. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc through Getty Images)

Sources advised Fox News Digital that Thompson had advised Loudermilk that the choose committee would flip over 4 terabytes of archived knowledge, however that the brand new committee solely acquired roughly two terabytes of knowledge.

Fox News Digital has discovered that Loudermilk’s committee employed a digital forensics group to scrape arduous drives to find out what info they weren’t given.

The forensics group, based on sources aware of their search, decided that 117 files have been each deleted and encrypted. Sources stated these files have been deleted on Jan. 1, 2023 – simply days before Thompson’s group was required to switch the info to the brand new committee.

Fox News Digital has discovered the forensics group has recovered all 117 deleted and encrypted files. Now, Loudermilk is demanding solutions and passwords to entry the info. 

Fox News Digital solely obtained a letter Loudermilk despatched to Thompson, requesting entry to recovered digital files by his forensic group.

“As you acknowledged in your July 7, 2023 letter, the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Select Committee) did not archive all Committee records as required by House Rules,” Loudermilk wrote. “You wrote that you sent specific transcribed interviews and depositions to the White House and Department of Homeland Security but did not archive them with the Clerk of the House.”

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Loudermilk added that Thompson additionally “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.”

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Chairman Bennie Thompson and Rep. Liz Cheney take their seats for he Select Committee to (*100*) the January sixth Attack on the Capitol listening to on Oct. 13, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc through Getty Images)

Loudermilk defined that after a forensic evaluation of the info and archived arduous drives, he was capable of recuperate “numerous digital records from hard drives archived by the Select Committee.”

“One recovered file disclosed the identity of an individual whose testimony was not archived by the Select Committee,” Loudermilk wrote. “Further, we found that most of the recovered files are password-protected, preventing us from determining what they contain.”

Loudermilk requested that Thompson present him “a list of passwords for all password-protected files created by the Select Committee” in order that his committee can “access these files and ensure they are properly archived.”

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Meanwhile, Loudermilk additionally penned letters to White House basic counsel and the overall counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, requesting “unedited and unredacted transcripts” of White House and DHS testimony to the previous choose committee. 

Loudermilk’s committee is aware of the transcripts of those interviews exist, however stated they weren’t turned over by the Thompson-led committee. 

Loudermilk demanded the White House and DHS comply along with his request by Jan. 24.

“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 advised Fox News Digital. 

“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.”