The Pentagon’s deputy defense secretary this week reminded staffers that retaining messages and emails sent through government cellphones is required under the Federal Records Act after texts from senior-level Defense Department officials were scrubbed on Jan. 6, 2021.
In a memo sent out this week, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks reminded Pentagon officials that retaining required records “is a solemn responsibility and legal obligation for all federal employees, civilian and military.”
The government mobile devices of former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, former Pentagon Chief of Staff Kash Patel and former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy were wiped in the days after the end of former President Donald Trump’s term in the White House.