Saturday, April 27, 2024

Secret Service closes White House cocaine investigation citing lack of evidence PBS NewsHour

secret service white house

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.

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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.

U.S. Capitol Police:

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.

Secret Service ends investigation into cocaine found in White House without identifying a suspect - ABC News

Secret Service ends investigation into cocaine found in White House without identifying a suspect.

Posted: Thu, 13 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

ABC News

Trump's driver contradicts Cassidy Hutchinson about Jan. 6 SUV altercation, GOP report says - ABC News

Trump's driver contradicts Cassidy Hutchinson about Jan. 6 SUV altercation, GOP report says.

Posted: Mon, 11 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The risk of one of those high-ranking individuals being captured is a tremendous risk to our national security and drives the reasons for the personal protective details. The Secret Service is often thought of -- and sometimes confused -- as the only agency within the federal government that protects people. While the Secret Service does protect a large array of individuals, the scope of that protection can be dwarfed by other federal agencies. Our protective mission dates back to 1901, after the assassination of President William McKinley.

How can I report a threat towards a protectee?

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.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described the location as “highly traveled,” saying, “West Wing visitors come through this particular area.” She said staff-led tours were held Friday, Saturday and Sunday before the drug was found. Secret Service representatives briefed members of the House Oversight and Homeland Security committees on Capitol Hill on Thursday after lawmakers requested answers on the probe and security protocols at the White House. The small plastic baggie with a powdered substance — which was found in a storage cubby at the White House on a Sunday evening this month — was subjected to advanced testing and examined at two federal labs, but no usable fingerprints or DNA were detected, the officials said. Chuck Rosenberg, a former U.S. attorney and acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration under then-President Barack Obama, said law enforcement agencies need to consider their resources when making decisions about who and what to investigate. Gugliemi said the small amount of cocaine, 208 milligrams or about .007 ounce, would only result in a misdemeanor charge in the District of Columbia and the agency determined that did not warrant the expenditure of resources it would take to interview 500 people. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight, in a letter last week requested a briefing from the Secret Service on the discovery of the cocaine as part of its own investigation.

secret service white house

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.

Foreign Missions

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.

But Mr. Biden could also take a victory lap for a spate of good news in recent days. On Wednesday, the president earned yet another crucial union endorsement, this one from North America’s Building Trades Unions, in large part for his signature bipartisan infrastructure package. That same day, he signed another consequential piece of legislation — a $95.3 billion package of aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that came after months of false starts and brutal congressional infighting. Donald Trump unleashed a broadside on Friday evening against Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate who in recent polls appears to be taking support from Trump.

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.

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.

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.

DSS also has an ongoing protection detail on the United States ambassador to the United Nations and operates protective assignments on visiting foreign dignitaries and diplomats, which is highlighted during the United Nations General Assembly. Special agents are hired at the GL-07, GL-09, or GS-11 grade level, depending on individual qualifications and/or education.[78] Agents are eligible for promotion on a yearly basis, from GL-07, to GL-09, to GS-11, to GS-12, to GS-13. The full performance grade level for a journeyman field agent is GS-13, which a GL-07, GL-09, or GS-11 agent may reach in as little as four, three, or two years respectively. GS-13 agents are eligible for competitive promotion to supervisory positions, which encompasses the GS-14, GS-15, and SES grade levels. GS-13 agents who wish to remain as journeyman field agents, will continue to advance the GS-13 step level, capping at GS-13 Step 10. The period following the Kennedy assassination was the most difficult in the modern history of the agency.

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.

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