WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 01: A Secret Service Agent looks on as Marine One, carrying U.S. President ... [+]
The two men arrested this week for pretending to be federal agents in an effort to infiltrate the U.S. Secret Service “were not merely playing dress-up...[they] created a potential national security risk."
That’s according to U.S. Assistant District Attorney Joshua Rothstein, who said the defendants "tricked people whose job it is to be suspicious of others," he alleged, who were ultimately "shocked" the two were not who the federal officers they claimed to be.
Rothstein said the U.S. attorney’s office is continuing to gather evidence in the fast-moving case. “Every day the facts get worse and worse.”
Suspended Agents Had Protected The White House And Jill Biden
CBS News reported that “One of the [four] agents was on the Secret Service detail for first lady Jill Biden. Another is a uniformed division officer at the White House. The third is detailed as a uniformed division officer at Vice President Kamala Harris' residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory. And a fourth was assigned to the presidential protection detail — that is, this officer is one of the federal agents charged with protecting the safety of the sitting president, first family and vice president.”
At a court hearing on Friday, U.S. Magistrate G. Michael Harvey said “I've never seen a case quite like [this].”
According to USA Today, federal prosecutor Rothstein “acknowledged that while many key questions remain, "the scale of the compromise that they created is quite large."
"We are just in the initial stages of the investigation," Rothstein said, adding that a moving truck was necessary to carry evidence from five downtown D.C. apartments that the suspects allegedly controlled.”
CNBC reported yesterday that “The prosecutors alleged in a court document filed earlier Friday that the two men “had firearms, they had ammunition, they had body armor, they had tactical gear, they had surveillance equipment, and they were engaged in conduct that represented a serious threat to the community, compromised the operations of a federal law enforcement agency, and created a potential risk to national security.”
Statement By The Secret Service
In a statement posted on its website on April 7, the Secret Service said it “... has worked, and continues to work, with its law enforcement partners on this ongoing investigation. All personnel involved in this matter are on administrative leave and are restricted from accessing Secret Service facilities, equipment and systems.
“The Secret Service adheres to the highest levels of professional standards and conduct and will remain inactive in coordination with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.”
Reforms
Before the news broke yesterday about the arrest of the two fake agents, the Secret Service was in the process of implementing reforms to address previous issues and crises it has faced in recent years.
According to a report last January by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), “In Dec. 2014, an independent panel of experts made 19 recommendations for improvements to the Secret Service. For example, the panel cited a ‘catastrophic failure of training’ and recommended certain divisions train 25% of the time.
“We found that the agency is working to address these recommendations. For example, in 2021, the Secret Service mandated that agents who protect the President and Vice President train for at least 12% of their work hours by FY 2025.”
Homeland Security Today wrote that the GAO said the Secret Service had “...taken actions to address 13 of the 19 recommendations, including two since GAO’s last assessment in 2019. For example, the agency revised its budget processes to incorporate principles of mission-based budgeting in its budget formulation process.
“The Secret Service is in the process of implementing the remaining six recommendations,” according to the article.
