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Secret Service removes lesbian agent who didn't want to take 'a bullet' for Trump

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The Secret Service will permanently remove a top special agent 
from her position after an investigation into her Facebook 
comments that she would rather not defend President Trump or 
take "a bullet" for him, but some agents are concerned she will 
simply be transferred to another government job.

About two weeks ago, the Secret Service placed the agent's prior 
post — the special agent in charge of the Denver District, the 
top job in that office — on a list of agency openings, according 
to two Secret Service sources.

Kerry O'Grady, the agent in question, is on administrative leave 
amid an internal Secret Service investigation into her Facebook 
comments about Trump.

Current and former Secret Service agents and officers are 
worried that top officials at the agency are working to shield 
O'Grady from being fired.

They are worried that she will be transferred to another 
division of the Homeland Security Department and allowed to 
serve out her time until she can retire with a pension as the 
agency has done with other officials in the public crosshairs.

In February 2015, Secret Service Deputy Director Alvin "A.T." 
Smith was forced to resign when the agency was under pressure 
from Congress after a string of security lapses. He was allowed 
to transfer to another position in DHS, according to an email 
that praised his 29 years of service to the agency sent to all 
staff.

Agents and officers are also questioning whether the agency's 
top brass tried to insulate O'Grady from any punishment. The 
Secret Service knew about O'Grady's Facebook comments in October 
when a whistleblower contacted the agency to notify it, sources 
told the Washington Examiner. But the agency did not launch an 
investigation until the Examiner reported on the controversial 
Facebook comments.

Roughly a month before Election Day in early October, O'Grady 
wrote that she would rather face "jail time" than take "a 
bullet" for Trump because she considered him a "disaster" for 
the country, especially as it relates to women and children. The 
post was written on her personal Facebook page late on a Sunday 
night.

In addition to other anti-Trump posts, on Inauguration Day, she 
updated her profile picture to an artist's rendering of Princess 
Leia with the words, "A woman's place is in the resistance."

"The resistance" has become a moniker for those opposing Trump's 
presidency.

In an interview and subsequent statements, she repeatedly told 
the Washington Examiner that the Facebook comments would not 
impact her ability to do her job and protect Trump.

Secret Service employees are among those federal employees 
subject to enhanced Hatch Act restrictions, including these two 
rules:

May not post a comment to a blog or a social media site that 
advocates for or against a partisan political party, candidate 
for partisan political office, or partisan political group.

May not use any email account or social media to distribute, 
send or forward content that advocates for or against a partisan 
political party, candidate for partisan political office, or 
partisan political group.

The Secret Service misconduct probe is focused on whether 
O'Grady posted the comments during work hours, according to 
several Secret Service sources.

Current and former agents and officers within the Secret Service 
community have called on the agency to fire O'Grady and not try 
to use a technical interpretation of the Hatch Act rules to 
allow her to remain on the job or working for the government in 
another capacity.

The premier association for former U.S. Secret Service agents, 
known as Old Star, in late January expelled O'Grady by 
rescinding her associate membership. The vote by its board 
members was unanimous.

The spouses for agents O'Grady oversees in Denver have been 
circulating an online petition addressed to former Director 
Joseph Clancy, calling on the agency to "act now and terminate" 
her.

Clancy left the agency in early March to retire before the 
investigation was over.

The Secret Service is facing a new spate of embarrassing 
incidents and security lapses that are drawing congressional 
scrutiny.

In addition to O'Grady's Facebook posts, the House Oversight 
Committee is investigating a March 10 fence-jumping incident in 
which an intruder strolled around the White House south lawn for 
20 minutes before approaching a Secret Service officer assigned 
to the South Portico's back door, sources told the Washington 
Examiner on Friday.

The intruder, identified as Jonathan Tran, walked up to the back 
door and startled an officer, who didn't immediately think he 
was an intruder, and instead thought he was some type of 
contractor because he was wearing khaki pants.

Tran was carrying two cans of mace and at one point hid "behind 
a White House pillar," according to an affidavit by a Secret 
Service officer cited by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, in his 
Friday letter to the Secret Service.

On Friday, reports of another serious security breach surfaced. 
A laptop computer containing floor plans for Trump Tower, 
information about the Hillary Clinton email investigation and 
other national security information was stolen from a Secret 
Service agent's vehicle in Brooklyn.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/secret-service-removes-agent-
who-didnt-want-to-take-a-bullet-for-trump/article/2617833
      

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Secret Service removes lesbian agent who didn't want to take 'a bullet' for Trump "Jethro Winchester" <jethro@boom.com> - 2017-05-16 11:45 +0200

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