The Homeland Security inspector general sent a letter to the House and Senate Homeland Security committees alerting them that the messages had been erased "as part of a device-replacement program" after the watchdog had requested electronic communications from the Secret Service.

The House Homeland Security Committee is chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who also chairs the House select committee investigating January 6.

DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari met with the House select committee behind closed doors on Friday, briefing the panel's members about the erased text messages.

Thompson told CNN after the meeting that Cuffari said that Secret Service has not been fully cooperative. He added that the committee would work "to try to ascertain if those texts can be resurrected."

According to a source familiar with the briefing, the inspector general told the panel the Secret Service did not conduct its own after-action review of January 6 and chose to rely on the inspector general investigation.

"We've had limited engagement with Secret Service. We'll follow up with some additional engagement now that we've met with the IG," Thompson said.

The Secret Service responded in a statement Thursday saying the "insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false."

"In fact, the Secret Service has been fully cooperating with the OIG in every respect -- whether it be interviews, documents, emails, or texts," the agency said.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat on the Select Committee, said there seemed to be "contradictory statements' between the inspector general and the Secret Service over whether the text messages were actually gone.

The Homeland Security inspector general sent a letter to the House and Senate Homeland Security committees alerting them that the messages had been erased "as part of a device-replacement program" after the watchdog had requested electronic communications from the Secret Service.

The House Homeland Security Committee is chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who also chairs the House select committee investigating January 6.

DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari met with the House select committee behind closed doors on Friday, briefing the panel's members about the erased text messages.

Thompson told CNN after the meeting that Cuffari said that Secret Service has not been fully cooperative. He added that the committee would work "to try to ascertain if those texts can be resurrected."

According to a source familiar with the briefing, the inspector general told the panel the Secret Service did not conduct its own after-action review of January 6 and chose to rely on the inspector general investigation.

"We've had limited engagement with Secret Service. We'll follow up with some additional engagement now that we've met with the IG," Thompson said.

The Secret Service responded in a statement Thursday saying the "insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false."

"In fact, the Secret Service has been fully cooperating with the OIG in every respect -- whether it be interviews, documents, emails, or texts," the agency said.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat on the Select Committee, said there seemed to be "contradictory statements' between the inspector general and the Secret Service over whether the text messages were actually gone.