EPA faces internal review over scrubbed text messages

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

The Environmental Protection Agency, on the heels of the controversy at the IRS over missing emails, is facing a probe of its own over whether it improperly scrubbed text messages.

 

The EPA inspector general's office announced this week it is launching an audit into the agency's policies for keeping text messages. The audit was prompted by a complaint from Republicans on the House science committee, worried the EPA may have "deleted thousands of text messages" that should have been preserved.

 

Jennifer Kaplan, spokeswoman for the EPA inspector general's office, confirmed the complaint prompted the audit.

 

"Our auditors were persuaded that this is something that they needed to look into," she told FoxNews.com.

 

The official IG notice said they would examine whether the EPA followed policies on preserving text messages, or whether they deleted or destroyed messages that should have been saved -- and if so, whether anyone was disciplined.

 

"Our objective is to determine whether the EPA adhered to applicable laws, regulations, and agency policies and procedures for records management, and preserved text messages when conducting official business," the notice said.

 

An "audit" is short of a full-blown investigation. But if any serious wrongdoing is turned up, it can be referred for investigation. "It's an audit right now," Kaplan said. "It will take at least a number of months to look at the issue carefully."

 

The review could be another headache for an agency that has long faced questions about its record-keeping. Those concerns have only gained more attention after former IRS official Lois Lerner came under fire for missing emails, sought in the course of congressional probes into the targeting of conservative groups.

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The dog ate their emails, too?