Secret Service adding former Biden agents to new presidential detail // Joe Biden to have new Secret Service team amid concern about Trump loyalty

 

Secret Service adding former Biden agents to new presidential detail

 

By Sarah Mucha and Paul LeBlanc, CNN

Updated 0442 GMT (1242 HKT) December 31, 2020

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/30/politics/joe-biden-secret-service/index.html

 

(CNN)The US Secret Service has been planning to bring back to the White House a group of agents that previously worked with President-elect Joe Biden when he was vice president to fill out his security detail, a law enforcement source confirmed to CNN.

 

It's not uncommon for the presidential detail to change agents who are familiar with the new president, the source said, but these moves, which have been in place for several weeks, come at a time of considerable political tension as President Donald Trump continues to falsely claim that his second term is being stolen while Biden prepares to take office.

The staffing changes, first reported by The Washington Post, also come amid concern from Biden allies about the political loyalty of some current agents to Trump, two people familiar with the situation told the newspaper. Some presidential detail members even encouraged other agents not to wear face masks this year, the Post reported, out of loyalty to the President, who didn't like the way they looked.

A former Secret Service executive told the Post the staffing changes were a "smart" decision in order to "give the incoming president the comfort of the familiar."

"You want him to be with people he knows and trusts, and who also know how he operates," the person said.

Secret Service spokeswoman Catherine Milhoan told the newspaper the agency "is uniquely authorized to provide protection to designated U.S. and other world leaders and remains steadfastly dedicated to a standard of excellence in those operations, wholly apolitically and unaffiliated with the political parties of protectees."

"As a matter of practice and due to operational security, the agency does not comment on protective operations inclusive of internal decisions on agency assignments," she added.

The White House and the Biden transition declined to comment to the Post.

Biden took the first step to formally request Secret Service protection after protesters stormed the stage at one of his rallies.

He was just minutes into a speech when two women rushed toward the podium where he was celebrating his Super Tuesday wins. The first woman was grabbed by Biden's private security guard and led offstage.

Seconds later, the second woman climbed onto the stage and Jill Biden put herself between the protester and her husband. Symone Sanders, a senior campaign adviser at the time, charged onto the platform and hauled the protester off the stage.

In an interview with NBC News at the time, Biden said "it's becoming increasingly" clear that protection would be necessary.

"I think that that's something that has to be considered the more outrageous it becomes," he said.

He received protection in March, CNN reported. Former vice presidents receive protection for six months after they leave office, which means Biden's Secret Service protection ended had ended in mid-2017. Before that, he consistently had private security nearby, and larger venues for campaign rallies often had local police or private security on hand as well.

In early November -- after the election but ahead of his projected victory -- the Secret Service sent more agents to Wilmington, Delaware, in anticipation of his presidential win.

 

Joe Biden to have new Secret Service team amid concern about Trump loyalty

 

Agents familiar from time as vice-president to return

 

Victoria Bekiempis in New York

Thu 31 Dec 2020 16.48 GMTLast modified on Thu 31 Dec 2020 16.49 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/31/joe-biden-secret-service-team-trump-loyalty

 

Joe Biden is expected to receive Secret Service protection with a new team that is more familiar to him and replacing some agents amid concerns that they may be politically allied with Donald Trump.

 

In a changing of the guard as well as the man to be guarded at the White House, Biden’s security detail will undergo some staffing changes, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

 

Several “senior” Secret Service agents are poised to return to the president-elect’s protection team and Biden knows these agents well because they guarded him and his family during his time as vice-president, according to the article, echoed in a report by CNN, citing a law enforcement source.

 

Re-assignments and promotions are common during transition periods between presidential administrations and are meant to increase comfort and trust between a president-elect and his security team, who shadow the commander-in-chief closely, including during private moments and sensitive discussions.

 

Although staffing changes are typical, several incidents reportedly contributed to the heightened concerns from Biden’s allies that some agents and officers might be loyal to Trump.

 

Some members of the president’s detail reportedly urged their colleagues not to wear masks during trips, for example – despite the federal government’s official guidance on Covid-19 – as Trump himself disparaged mask-wearing and held out for months before being seen wearing one in public.

 

In what was described as an “unprecedented” move, the Secret Service had permitted former detail leader Anthony Ornato to temporarily leave his role and serve as White House deputy chief of staff.

 

Ornato was among the coordinators of the June photo op for which Trump marched through Washington DC’s Lafayette Square to stand with a Bible – after peaceful protesters were forced from the area by troops on federal order, sparking uproar in political circles as well as among the public..

 

Ornato also assisted in the planning of many Trump campaign rallies even as Covid-19 tore through the US and gatherings were being discouraged or banned outright. In addition to members of the public, many Secret Service members contracted coronavirus or were exposed.

 

The Secret Service declined to discuss the reports. Biden has had a security detail since March, when he was campaigning for the Democratic nomination.

 

While former vice-presidents are given a security detail for six months after leaving office, he formally requested Secret Service protection after protesters rushed on to the stage at a campaign rally, CNN said.