The Atlantic

Well, the Cover-Up Sure Isn’t Making January 6 Look Any Better

Why have so many messages from top government officials disappeared?
Source: Alex Wong / Getty

“Once is happenstance,” Ian Fleming’s Auric Goldfinger tells the spy James Bond in the eponymous novel. “Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.”

The villain’s bon mot comes to mind with regard to another malefactor these days. Last month, that the Secret Service had deleted, or negligently allowed the deletion of, texts surrounding the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Last week, that texts for top officials then in the Department of Homeland Security, including Acting. (An official

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