January 6 panel examines whether erased Secret Service texts can be revived

Sources say committee investigating whether watchdog can use forensic tools to reconstruct messages from 5 and 6 January

The House committee investigating the Capitol attack is examining whether Secret Service text messages from 5 and 6 January 2021 that were erased around the time of an internal review can be reconstructed, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The panel was perturbed that texts between agents on perhaps two of the most important days in the history of the Secret Service - the day before the Capitol attack and the day itself - could be lost in such an abrupt manner, the sources said.