Rutte deleted text messages with Hugo de Jonge during the early pandemic response

Prime Minister Mark Rutte deleted text messages with then Health Minister Hugo de Jonge during the Covid-19 crisis. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) has archived the messages destroyed by Rutte, but the content has since been declared confidential, wrote de Volkskrant.

That Rutte deleted content of his communication with De Jonge during the Covid-19 crisis is apparent from an inventory list drawn up by the VWS in connection with a request for information from de Volkskrant based on the Government Information (Public Access) Act (Wob).

The inventory list mentions iMessage traffic between Rutte and De Jonge between March 2020 and June 2020. A spokesperson confirmed that the material had not previously been made public, according to de Volkskrant.

It became known in May 2022 that Rutte deleted all his text messages on a daily basis for years after de Volkskrant requested text messages from the Dutch Prime Minister during the Covid-19 crisis.

The newspaper wrote that the messages released by the Ministry of General Affairs made public in June 2021 were very limited. Although Rutte was known to "govern by text message," only few text messages were archived, and not even a handful of text messages to De Jonge.

However, Rutte claimed that he had rightly deleted the text messages with De Jonge. "When archiving his text messages, the Prime Minister acted in accordance with the government-wide guidelines applicable at the time," a spokesman said, reported de Volkrkant. "Minister De Jonge has kept all his messages. This explains why there are more text messages at VWS."

Now, the Prime Minister saves all his chat messages, according to de Volkskrant.