The U.S. Secret Service stated Wednesday it’s investigating a misconduct allegation towards certainly one of its workers and has positioned them on depart.
“The U.S. Secret Service Workplace of Skilled Duty is investigating a misconduct allegation involving an worker,” the company stated in a press release to The Hill. “The Secret Service holds its personnel to the best requirements. The worker has been positioned on administrative depart pending the result of the investigation.”
The assertion on the investigation comes after Actual Clear Politics published a report earlier Wednesday that detailed a Secret Service agent being accused of allegedly sexually assaulting a staffer for Vice President Harris whereas on an advance journey for a marketing campaign occasion final week in Wisconsin. The report cited 4 unnamed sources within the Secret Service group.
In a statement to NBC News, the vp’s workplace stated it was alerted by the Secret Service that an incident involving an agent passed off however didn’t supply any particulars of the incident. It did, nonetheless, make notice that the workplace has “zero tolerance for sexual misconduct.”
“The Workplace of the Vice President take the protection of workers severely. Now we have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct,” the assertion learn. “Senior OVP [Office of the Vice President] officers had been alerted by the united states about an incident involving an agent and knowledgeable that USSS initiated an investigation.”
Harris’s marketing campaign and the vp’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from The Hill.
The Democratic nominee is spending Wednesday delivering remarks on the economic system in Pittsburgh earlier than sitting down with MSNBC for an interview airing at 7 p.m. Japanese.
The revelation of the Secret Service investigation comes because the company continues to face heavy scrutiny over its operations following two obvious assassination makes an attempt on former President Trump.
Additionally Wednesday, a Senate committee released a scathing report on failures by the company to guard Trump through the first try in Butler, Pa. by which brokers had been discovered to have missed a number of alternatives to stop the capturing.
An earlier internal review by the Secret Service additionally revealed “a number of operational and communications failures” together with an unclear chain of command and communication failures between the company and native legislation enforcement.