DOJ requesting personal cell phone numbers of thousands of Secret Service employees in Jan. 6 probe

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The Department of Justice has requested the personal cell phone numbers of more than 2,000 U.S. Secret Service employees as part of their investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, Fox News has learned.

The DOJ's request is not limited to those who were in the vicinity of the protests, as it includes employees who were neither at the Ellipse where then-President Donald Trump held a rally nor on the street.

Given that both the Justice Department and Secret Service are federal agencies, the Secret Service will likely have to comply with the request. If they do not, the DOJ could formally demand the phone numbers via a grand jury subpoena.

It had previously been reported that the House Jan. 6 committee had asked for the personal phone numbers as well, and that the Secret Service complied. Larry Cosme, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Association (FLEOA), blasted the Secret Service for going along with this. 

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Cosme said that because the Secret Service did not have policies or protocols for retaining the employees' electronic communications, they released their private numbers instead.

"To compensate for their failures, USSS executive leadership provided Congressional oversight entities USSS employee’s personal cell phone numbers from employee personnel records. These personal records were released without the employee’s consent," he said.

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A source confirmed to Fox News in July that the Secret Service was the subject of a criminal investigation by the Department of Homeland Security related to the deletion of text messages related to the Jan. 6 riot,.

The Secret Service declined to comment . Fox News reached out to the Justice Department as well, but so far they have not responded.