WASHINGTON >> The No. 2 Senate Democrat on Wednesday called for an inspector general investigation into missing text messages from top Defense Department officials in the Trump administration related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he was sending a letter to Sean O’Donnell, the Defense Department’s inspector general, seeking an investigation into the disappearance of text messages from the phones of at least five former Trump administration officials, including Christopher C. Miller, the acting defense secretary; Kash Patel, the Pentagon’s chief of staff; and Ryan D. McCarthy, the Army secretary. The officials were involved in discussions about sending the National Guard to the Capitol during the mob violence.

“The disappearance of this critical information could jeopardize efforts to learn the full truth about Jan. 6,” Durbin said in a statement.

— The New York Times