THE Secret Service is investigating claims one of its agents sexually assaulted a Kamala Harris staff member, according to bombshell new reports.
An active-duty agent is accused of forcing himself on an unnamed Harris staffer at a hotel room in front of others.
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The shocking alleged incident took place after the agent and several staffers had been drinking at a restaurant in Green Bay, Wisconsin, sometime last week.
One Secret Service source told Real Clear Politics that the accused agent was so drunk they were kicked out of the hotel room by co-workers and passed out in the hallway, where photos were taken of them.
“The U.S. Secret Service Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating a misconduct allegation involving an employee,” a Secret Service spokesman told the outlet.
“The Secret Service holds its personnel to the highest standards. The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.”
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A Harris campaign spokesperson said in a statement: “The Office of the Vice President takes the safety of staff seriously. We have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct.
“Senior OVP officials were alerted by the USSS about an incident involving an agent and informed that the USSS initiated an investigation. The Office of the Vice President will not be releasing further information.”
It follows another stunning apparent lapse in judgment by the Secret Service surrounding former president Barack Obama.
An armed stranger was reportedly able to come within inches of Obama in Hollywood this weekend.
The former president was sitting in the backseat of his SUV on Saturday, September 21, when the man approached him, supposedly without being spotted by any agents.
The man was reportedly a security guard working a bar mitzvah nearby who approached President Obama’s car after hearing that federal agents were outside.
He was stunned to realize that the former commander-in-chief was sitting in the backseat on his laptop with no apparent security nearby.
The unnamed man said he panicked after realizing he was armed and could be taken out by the Secret Service at any time, reports TMZ.
He said that he quickly walked away from the SUV, which was in an alleyway behind the restaurant, and went onto the street where he spoke to “startled” agents.
Turning around, he went back past the car and to the restaurant, before, around half an hour later, he says his boss asked him to hand over his credentials and concealed weapon license to the Secret Service.
Speaking about the agents’ actions, he said: “I think they were obviously embarrassed by the situation.”
It comes as the Secret Service is still reeling from the fallout of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July this year.
The shocking incident, which saw the former president grazed in the ear after multiple shots were fired by gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, resulted in the resignation of USSS director Kimberly Cheatle.
It was later revealed that Crooks was on the Secret Service’s radar for 100 minutes before opening fire.
In the aftermath of the shooting, five Secret Service agents were put on leave.
This was followed by a further assassination attempt earlier this month when would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh was spotted with a rifle on a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, less than 500 yards from where Trump was playing.
Routh has been charged with attempting to assassinate Trump after initially facing lesser federal firearms offenses.
In the wake of Routh’s arrest, acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe Jr called for a “paradigm shift” in the agency.
The agency also admitted that it didn’t search the perimeter of the golf course where Routh hid for 12 hours in his apparent bid to kill Trump.
Addressing the media, Rowe said: “The president wasn’t even really supposed to go there,” adding that the visit to the Trump-owned golf course wasn’t on his official schedule for the day.
SECRET SERVICE UNDER FIRE
THE Secret Service has faced a number of challenges this year that have resulted in its director stepping down and calls for a “paradigm shift
- July 13: Donald Trump is shot at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Secret Service is slammed for failing to take out gunman Thomas Crooks.
- July 15: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle does her first network interview since the shooting, telling ABC News it was “unacceptable,” but refuses to resign, blaming local police for refusing to secure the building from where the gunman launched his attack.
- July 20: A week on, Pennsylvania Congressman Brendan Boyle calls on Cheatle to resign, making himself the first congressional Democrat to do so. That same day, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell both called on Cheatle to step aside.
- July 22: Cheatle testifies before Congress and acknowledges “significant operational failure” in Butler, but refuses to resign.
- July 23: Director Cheatle resigns. Her deputy, Ronald Rowe, takes over as acting director.
- July 30: Rowe tells Congress the attempted assassination on Trump was a “failure on multiple levels.”
- August: It is later revealed the White House asked for extra funding for the Secret Service in the run-up to November’s election, warning of “insufficient resources.”
- September 15: A gunman is arrested after being spotted with a rifle on Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course. Secret Service agents say it was a credible plot on the former president’s life.
- September 16: Ronald Rowe makes astonishing admission that the Secret Service needs a total overhaul in the wake of both attempts on former President Trump’s life, and calls for a “paradigm shift.”
- September 20: Rowe takes “full responsibility” for events at Butler, and repeats calls for “paradigm shift” in the Secret Service.
SECRET STRUGGLES
The Secret Service has been the subject of other damaging scandals in recent years.
In 2012, several agents, along with members of the DEA and armed forces were caught taking prostitutes back to their hotel rooms during a summit in Colombia.
As a result, the Secret Service introduced alcohol limits for foreign trips, as well as banning bringing foreign nationals back to hotel rooms.
Recently, a former Secret Service agent warned that “lazy” Gen-Zers would not make good agents because they lack the mentality.
Cheryl Tyler, a retired Secret Service agent and training instructor in the agency’s Protection Section, warned that many younger would-be recruits don’t have the mindset for the work, and don’t want to do the strenuous hours required.