'That's not how it works': Trump's DHS admits to major 'violation' of federal law [View all]

Source: Raw Story

August 23, 2025 12:49PM ET


The Department of Homeland Security admitted to what experts called a “violation” of federal law when pressed by a watchdog organization in late July, according to reporting from The New York Times Friday.

American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog group, filed a public records request with DHS related to the deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles in June. In a letter received by the organization on July 23, however, the agency said it “no longer maintained” records – specifically text messages from DHS officials and staff – as of April 9.

“(Text messages of top DHS officials) are records that must be preserved and kept because they are created in the course of conducting government business,” said Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, speaking with The New York Times. “If they are not preserving those records, or if they are making so they cannot search for those records, that is a violation of the Federal Records Act.”

The DHS’ failure to maintain communications as is required by law is not new under Trump’s two administrations. Following the Jan. 6 breaching of the U.S. Capitol, the DHS secretary general requested text messages of Secret Service officers during the two-day period surrounding the attack; many of those messages were later discovered to have been deleted.

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/dhs-law-breaking/?utm_source=superhead