Protection

Table Of Content

• For federal agencies
• What legal authority and powers do Secret Service agents have?
• Secret Service agent on Harris detail involved in altercation before flight
• Secret Service briefing on White House cocaine incident set for Thursday
• Protection
• How many people are employed by the Secret Service?
• Uniformed Division Officer

“This alarming development requires the Committee to assess White House security practices and determine whose failures led to an evacuation of the building and finding of the illegal substance,” Comer wrote in the letter. The Secret Service said in a statement the White House was closed as a precaution as emergency crews investigated, and that the District of Columbia fire department was called in to evaluate and determine that the substance was not hazardous. The entrance is near where some vehicles, like the vice president’s limo or SUV, park. It is one floor below the main West Wing offices and on the same floor as the Situation Room and a dining area. WASHINGTON — The mystery of who brought cocaine into the White House remains unsolved.

For federal agencies

It will be the last such dinner before the 2024 election, giving the president and members of the press a brief respite from the campaign trail as they participate in a Washington ritual designed to celebrate a free press. The annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night could be another opportunity for Mr. Biden to be in the moment, in what might be the perfect setting for him to continue roasting Mr. Trump, his once and future presidential rival. April 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Secret Service has dismissed an agent assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris after showing "distressing behavior," a spokesperson said Thursday. There had also apparently been longstanding concerns about the agent in question prior to Monday’s incident, per the report. Following the blow-up, some questioned the hiring process behind that agent, including any assessment of that individual’s background, according to RealClearPolitics.

What legal authority and powers do Secret Service agents have?

House Oversight requests Secret Service briefing on White House cocaine - NBC News

House Oversight requests Secret Service briefing on White House cocaine.

Posted: Fri, 07 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

CS technicians also use the 7.62mm KAC SR-25/Mk11 Mod 0 semi-automatic sniper rifle with a Trijicon 5.5× ACOG optic. As a non-lethal option, Special Agents, Special Officers, and Uniformed Division Officers are armed with the ASP 16” expandable baton, and Uniformed Division officers also carry pepper spray. Officers assigned to CS, ERT, and K9, are designated "Technicians" to recognize their advanced training. As a non-lethal option, Special Agents, Special Officers, and Uniformed Division Officers are armed with the ASP 16" expandable baton, and Uniformed Division officers also carry pepper spray.

Secret Service agent on Harris detail involved in altercation before flight

There were “multiple instances of destruction of private and public property” roughly between 7 p.m. Last night, including three vehicles, and a structure attached to a building under constriction, were set on fire, Newsham said. Under Abbott’s declaration, federal agents are able to serve as Texas Peace Officers. CNN teams were on hand for much of the protests and witnessed protesters throwing objects at officers and pulling temporary fencing away from them. The Washington Fire Department was called in to test the substance to determine if it was hazardous and concluded it was cocaine.

Secret Service briefing on White House cocaine incident set for Thursday

Oversight Committee chairman James Comer said last week his panel will assess the White House's security practices, and the Secret Service on Thursday provided a closed-door briefing for the committee. Two senior law enforcement officials told CBS News that there was 207.6 milligrams, or .007 ounces, of cocaine discovered, according to an FBI analysis. The United States Secret Service Uniformed Division (USSS UD) is the Federal police force of the U.S. It is in charge of protecting the physical White House grounds and foreign diplomatic missions in the District of Columbia area. Our total protective environment includes airspace security, counter-surveillance, medical emergency response, hazardous agent mitigation and magnetometer capabilities.

He left the party in 2019 while facing attacks from Mr. Trump and did not run for re-election in 2020. The seat is being vacated by Senator Debbie Stabenow, the state’s senior senator and a Democrat, who announced last year that she would not seek a fifth term. That teed up a crowded field of Republicans vying to flip the seat in a general election contest that could decide control of the narrowly divided Senate.

How many people are employed by the Secret Service?

The United States Secret Service, one of the nation's oldest federal investigative law enforcement agencies, was founded in 1865 as a branch of the U.S. It was originally created to combat the counterfeiting of U.S. currency - a serious problem at the time. In fact, following the Civil War, it was estimated that one-third to one-half of the currency in circulation was counterfeit. Today, members of both parties in the House voted to advance our national security interests and send a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage. At this critical inflection point, they came together to answer history’s call, passing urgently-needed national security legislation that I have fought for months to secure. This package will deliver critical support to Israel and Ukraine; provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, and other locations impacted by conflicts and natural disasters around the world; and bolster security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

Additionally, the Secret Service runs the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI), which provides law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges with cyber training and information to combat cybercrime. The agency's key focus is on large, high-dollar economic impact cases involving organized criminal groups. Financial criminals include embezzling bank employees, armed robbers at automatic teller machines, heroin traffickers, and criminal organizations that commit bank fraud on a global scale.

National Security

Kim has had a long and distinguished career at the Secret Service, having risen through the ranks during her 27 years with the agency, becoming the first woman in the role of Assistant Director of protective operations. The presence of cocaine at the White House prompted a flurry of criticism and questions from Republicans, who requested a briefing Thursday on the probe. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden believed it was “incredibly important” for the Secret Service to get to the bottom of how the drugs ended up in the White House. More testing was done to review the chemical composition of the powder, the statement continued. The Secret Service received results Wednesday from tests conducted by the FBI, “which did not develop latent fingerprints and insufficient DNA was present for investigative comparisons,” the Secret Service said in a statement Thursday. Security camera video was also reviewed, but "[t]here was no surveillance video footage that produced investigative leads," the agency said.

The Secret Service was the first U.S. domestic intelligence and counterintelligence agency. Domestic intelligence collection and counterintelligence responsibilities were later vested in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) upon the FBI's creation in 1908.

Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the chairman of the Oversight panel, is sending a letter to U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Friday to request more information about the incident and a staff-level briefing on the matter by July 14. The Secret Service is also responsible for protecting national leaders and visiting heads of state. I am proud to announce that I have selected Kim Cheatle to be the next Director of the United States Secret Service.

It comes at a moment of grave urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine under continued bombardment from Russia. I want to thank Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, and the bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in the House who voted to put our national security first. I urge the Senate to quickly send this package to my desk so that I can sign it into law and we can quickly send weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent battlefield needs.

As such, the substance was field tested and preliminarily determined to not be a hazardous compound. Comer, a Kentucky Republican, later said in a statement that the Secret Service needs to reassess its security operations to ensure illegal substances do not enter the White House. The saga over the cocaine began just before the Fourth of July, when the White House was temporarily closed after an "unknown item" was discovered by Secret Service officers on July 2.