Tag: Secret Service

DHS watchdog declined to pursue investigations into Secret Service during Trump administration, documents show

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The chief federal watchdog for the Secret Service blocked investigations proposed by career staff last year to scrutinize the agency’s handling of the George Floydprotests in Lafayette Square and the spread of the coronavirus in its ranks, according to documents and people with knowledge of his decisions.

Both matters involved decisions by then-President Donald Trump that may have affected actions by the agency.

Joseph Cuffari, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, rejected his staff’s recommendation to investigate what role the Secret Service played in the forcible clearing of protesters from Lafayette Square on June 1, according to internal documents and two people familiar with his decision, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the discussions. Continue reading.

Secret Service forces press to leave White House as police use hoses, pepper spray and batons to beat back protesters

AlterNet logoWithout initially offering an explanation, the Secret Service late Monday ordered members of the press to leave the White House grounds as law enforcement officials in riot gear used pepper spray and batons to beat back a nearby protest at which some attempted to topple a statue of former President Andrew Jackson.

A spokesperson for the Secret Service said in a statement hours later that “four members of the media were misdirected by the Secret Service to leave the White House grounds.”

“The members of the press were rerouted to exits on the south side of the complex for their own safety” as demonstrations raged in Lafayette Park, the agency spokesperson said. Continue reading.

Secret Service has paid rates as high as $650 a night for rooms at Trump’s properties

Washington Post logoPresident Trump’s company charges the Secret Service for the rooms agents use while protecting him at his luxury properties — billing U.S. taxpayers at rates as high as $650 per night, according to federal records and people who have seen receipts.

Those charges, compiled here for the first time, show that Trump has an unprecedented — and largely hidden — business relationship with his own government. When Trump visits his clubs in Palm Beach, Fla., and Bedminster, N.J., the service needs space to post guards and store equipment.

Trump’s company says it charges only minimal fees. But Secret Service records do not show that. Continue reading.

Trump’s 2020 budget seeks 7 percent rise in Secret Service funding for 2020 campaign

The budget summary says it seeks to hire 177 additional special agents, officers and professional staff for the agency

President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2020 budget proposal seeks $2.3 billion to fund the U.S. Secret Service, an increase of 7 percent over the estimated spending for 2019 and some 15 percent above actual spending for 2018, according to budget documents released this week.

Much of the extra money in discretionary budget authority would go to protecting presidential candidates during the 2020 campaign and for the two national political conventions, plus hiring more agents, and more money for research and development and “protective equipment and technology.” Continue reading “Trump’s 2020 budget seeks 7 percent rise in Secret Service funding for 2020 campaign”

White House Nightmare: Trump Golfs While His Secret Service Agents Work Without Pay

Trump might have to put off his golf vacation if he forces a government shutdown over his border wall. But he loves his golf, so that might mean no shutdown.

WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump, clad in a golf shirt and golf hat under a warm South Florida sun, hitting a drive off the tee while Secret Service agents protecting him are forced to work without paychecks, possibly for weeks, because Congress wouldn’t pay for Trump’s “Great Wall.”

Such is the nightmare public relations scenario facing the White House less than a week before the Department of Homeland Security and other key government agencies run out of money at midnight Friday while Trump is scheduled to fly that day to his Mar-a-Lago resort for a 16-day vacation.

The U.S. Secret Service is among the half-dozen agencies in the quarter-million-employee DHS, which also includes the U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration. Other major agencies facing a shutdown include the departments of state, treasury and interior. Many of the affected employees would be deemed essential and be forced to work anyway. None would be paid during the shutdown and would have to get by on savings or short-term loans.

View the complete December 17 article by S.V. Date on the Politico.com website here.

Secret Service denies hiding Trump’s golfing from media

The following article by Brett Samuels was posted on the Hill website December 27, 2017:

The Secret Service and a local sheriff’s office on Wednesday denied using a white box truck to block CNN cameras from recording President Trumpplaying golf at his course in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The Secret Service told CNN that the agency “is in the business of protection and investigations not in commissioning vehicles to block the media’s view of the President’s golf swing.” Continue reading “Secret Service denies hiding Trump’s golfing from media”

Secret Service vacates Trump Tower command post in lease dispute with president’s company

The following article by Carol D. Leonnig, David A. Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell was posted on the Washington Post website August 3, 2017:

Credit: Epicgenius, Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

The Secret Service has vacated its command post inside Trump Tower in Manhattan following a dispute between the government and President Trump’s company over the terms of a lease for the space, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

Previously, the Secret Service had stationed its command post — which houses supervisors and backup agents on standby in case of an emergency — in a Trump Tower unit one floor below the president’s apartment.

But in early July, the post was relocated to a trailer on the sidewalk, more than 50 floors below, a distance that some security experts worry could hamper the agency that protects the president’s home and family.

The command post appears unlikely to move anytime soon back inside Trump Tower, where the president and his family have rarely gone since moving to the White House. Continue reading “Secret Service vacates Trump Tower command post in lease dispute with president’s company”

People Want Melania Trump To Be Forced to Leave NYC

The following article by Kali Holloway was posted on the National Memo website March 29, 2017:

The exorbitant cost of keeping Melania and Barron Trump in their gold-plated penthouse in New York City has inspired thousands to sign a petition asking that they be forced to leave town. The viral Change.org request, titled “Make Melania Trump Stay in the White House or Pay for the Expenses Herself,” already has more than 175,000 signatures. The petition is a response to the drain on city dollars brought on by the stunning security costs—up to $146,000 a day—of keeping Melania and Barron in Trump Tower, according to New York City Police estimates given to the New York Times. Continue reading “People Want Melania Trump To Be Forced to Leave NYC”