Rep. Loudermilk accuses Mayorkas of purposely delaying a Secret Service report on Jan 6

Georgia Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk on Wednesday accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of purposely delaying the release of an internal watchdog report on the Secret Service’s handling of the Jan. 6 riot. 

Loudermilk's House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight has been leading an investigation into the 2021 riot, after he claimed the previous Democrat-led House investigation resulted in a report that was so tainted it should be invalidated.

The congressman, who serves as the chairman of the subcommittee, said the DHS's Inspector General's office still has multiple reports due, including the "United States Secret Service Preparation for and Response to the Events of January 6, 2021," which he claimed is complete, but has not been delivered to the committee.

"This obstruction appears to be a pattern of behavior to delay or prevent the release of certain reports that could be damaging to the Department of Homeland Security," Loudermilk said in a statement. "At a time when the security forces of our country are under extreme scrutiny, to delay or slowwalk the release of these reports is unacceptable."

Loudermilk also sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas where he demanded the report, and claimed the secretary is solely responsible for not turning in the final documents.

"You alone are preventing the DHS OIG from releasing this report to Congress," the lawmaker wrote. "Given the events of July 13, 2024, yet another security failure by the U.S. Secret Service to detect and prevent a serious threat to a protectee, there is absolutely no justification for your delay."

He additionally accused the department of preventing the inspector general's office from conducting the oversight that is mandated by the Inspector General Act of 1978, including by invoking the Presidential Records Act and the Privacy Act, and preventing employees from handing documents over to the inspector general's office.

Loudermilk said the other main report on January 6 that the agency has yet to turn over is the  "Department of Homeland Security Law Enforcement Preparation for and Response to the January 6, 2021 Events at the U.S. Capitol." The department did release one report related to the riot, but it was heavily redacted.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.