The tug of war between Jan. 6 investigators and the Secret Service will hit a critical point on Tuesday when the panel examining the Capitol riot expects to receive a trove of agency text messages that could lend new insights into former President Trump’s actions that day.

The transfer, if it materializes, follows several days of confusion and finger-pointing surrounding the elusive messages, which a government watchdog told the committee “were erased” by the Secret Service — only to have the agency deny the charge outright.

The accusation led the House select committee to subpoena the Secret Service for the texts late Friday night, just hours after the panel met with Joseph Cuffari, the inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security.

Cuffari, a Trump appointee, had sent the committee a letter earlier in the week saying the agency had expunged text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, “as part of a device-replacement program.” The erasure came “after OIG [Office of Inspector General] requested records of electronic communications” from the agency, Cuffari wrote.