A progressive nonprofit watchdog group recently received an apology from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following a lawsuit over alleged mishandling of electronic records. The group accused the agency, led by Secretary Kristi Noem, of not adhering to legal requirements for preserving text messages and other electronic communications.

American Oversight initiated legal action on October 20 by filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. They contended that DHS’s claim of discontinuing the maintenance of “text message data” related to government activities beyond April 9, 2025, constituted a breach of the Federal Records Act.

The lawsuit also highlighted a subsequent claim by DHS indicating the agency’s inability to search for text messages, which was seen as another violation of FOIA. American Oversight urged Noem and acting Archivist Marco Rubio at the National Archives (NARA) to fulfill their legal obligations by recovering any records that had been improperly destroyed.

The legal action stemmed from requests for text messages and other electronic communications, such as Signal messages and emails, involving Noem and other DHS officials. These requests were related to various topics, including the National Guard’s deployment to Los Angeles, code-named “Alligator Alcatraz,” and communications involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia. It also extended to messages sent or received by Philip Hegseth, identified as a senior advisor and liaison at the Pentagon and brother to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

A joint status report was filed on Wednesday, featuring a declaration from Michael Weissman, DHS’s Chief Data Officer. In his statement, Weissman attributed the issue to technological changes that led to a “misunderstanding” and the dissemination of “erroneous information” regarding DHS’s record-keeping capabilities and procedures.

In that declaration, Weissman explained that technology changes resulted in both a “misunderstanding” and “erroneous information” to American Oversight about DHS’ record retention capabilities and practices.

“DHS policy requires the retention of all electronic federal records, as required by law. The way technology is used by DHS to preserve federal records, including electronic messages, however, has changed, which led to the misunderstanding about how the Department preserves electronic messages and the erroneous information provided to Plaintiffs in response to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests that are the subject of this Complaint,” Weissman stated, under penalty of perjury.

In a lengthier technical explanation, the chief data officer averred that “cybersecurity failures” led the government to move away from message archiving software TeleMessage in April, necessitating DHS employees to “manually archive messages” in screenshots stored in “Shared Drive work folders” or, in this case of senior officials like Noem, having a technician “manually access the device and use forensic tools to archive a copy of the device, including all electronic messages, which can then be searched[.]”

Weissman added that DHS investigated itself and found “no evidence that any” records have been destroyed.

“Nevertheless, a litigation hold has been issued that includes each of the named custodians, and DHS has uncovered no evidence that any federal records have been destroyed or that individual employees are not following DHS policies,” the declaration continued. “DHS policies have never authorized employees to destroy records. Although DHS is working to identify new, secure, technical solutions to allow automatic archiving of electronic messages, DHS has always maintained Department-wide policies requiring all federal records to be preserved, including those sent by electronic message.”

American Oversight appears pleased about the “erroneous information” admission but remains unconvinced about DHS’ compliance with the law.

“DHS has now admitted that it provided inaccurate information about whether Secretary Noem’s and other top agency officials’ text messages were properly preserved,” American Oversight Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said in a statement. “We’re talking about messages exchanged amid major national controversies — from the deployment of military forces on American streets to inhumane immigration crackdowns and deportations carried out in defiance of court orders.”

“The public deserves to know whether these records still exist, and whether officials destroyed evidence of how those decisions were made. After misleading us for months, DHS wants us to trust that the law is being followed,” Chukwu added. “But the agency has not turned over the records we requested nor has it provided details about whether senior officials’ text messages have been preserved in accordance with the law. It’s time for transparency — not more empty assurances.”