A Secret Service agent on Vice President Harris’ detail was escorted away in handcuffs after punching a supervisor during an altercation this past April.
Secret Service officials will hold a briefing on June 21 to answer any questions from Congress regarding the current training and recruiting process in light of Vice President Harris’ detail who attacked her supervisor. The briefing is scheduled in response to a letter from House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.
“In response to the letter received from Chairman James Comer, the U.S. Secret Service will comply with the House Oversight Committee’s request for a briefing on the topics outlined in the publicly available letter dated May 30, 2024,” a member of the Secret Service said.
In response, Comer wrote to the U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, “It was recently reported that a Secret Service agent, tasked with protecting Vice President Kamala Harris, physically attacked her superior (and the commanding agent in charge) and other agents trying to subdue her while on duty at Joint Base Andrews and assigned to the Vice President’s protective detail.”
Multiple members of the Secret Service have confirmed that the altercation happened around 9 a.m. on April 22 at Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The Secret Service has since described the incident as a “medical matter” and that Secret Service agent has been let go.
However, this isn’t the first time an incident like this has occurred. According to a petition backed by Secret Service personnel, there were multiple occasions that agents cited problems with inadequate training and a double standard in disciplinary actions.
“This incident raised concerns within the agency about the hiring and screening process for this agent: specifically, whether previous incidents in her work history were overlooked during the hiring process as years of staff shortages had led the agency to lower once stricter standards as part of a diversity, equity and inclusion effort,” Comer continues to write to Cheatle.
Yet another time when Vice President Kamala Harris’ Secret Service effectiveness was called into question.
Joint Base Andrews is the hub for Air Force One and Air Force Two, the aircraft responsible for transporting the president and vice president. At the time of the altercation, Vice President Harris was still at the Naval Observatory, her official residence. The incident did not cause any delay in her travel plans.