Relying on officials to turn over their own messages increases the risk that DHS officials won’t comply with records preservation laws.
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In August, DHS told us that it hadn’t preserved officials’ text messages since April. Now, DHS says that was “erroneous” but it revealed it disabled its text-archiving system in April.

The public deserves to know whether those records have been saved or destroyed.
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Our initial records requests asked for messages exchanged amid major national controversies — including escalating immigration crackdowns, deportations conducted in defiance of court orders, and the deployment of military forces on American streets.

It has been months, and DHS still has not confirmed whether Secretary Noem and other top officials have preserved text message records after April. It also has not stated whether officials’ phones have been searched for the records we requested.

DHS says that it disabled its text-archiving system in April 2025, and now relies on individual officials to capture and forward their own messages.

By law, that must be completed within 20 days of the original record being created.

DHS wants us to trust that it’s following the law and preserving the records.

But it hasn’t given us details about whether senior officials’ texts have been preserved or turned over the records we requested.
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The total lack of public information about the president’s action is not only deeply concerning, it also raises serious questions about who the administration considers to be a “domestic terrorist,” and why.

We gave the DOJ and FBI 20 days to provide more information.

We asked the agencies to identify all groups they have labeled “Antifa,” and to explain how they define “Antifa” and identify its members.

We also asked for any guidance or directives the agencies received regarding Trump’s categorization.