Biden Still Has Confidence In Secret Service Chief Amid Bribery Scandal Involving POTUS and First Lady Agents, Assault Rifles, A Drone, and More

President Joe Biden still has “confidence” in Secret Service Director James Murray amid a bizarre unfolding scandal involving agents on both Biden’s and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s protective details.

The details of the scandal are as strange as they are sparse. Two men — Arian Taherzadeh and Haider Ali — posed as Department of Homeland Security agents, and lavished Secret Service agents — including one each from the president’s and the first lady’s protective details — with gifts that may have amounted to bribes:

The two men charged with impersonating DHS agents, Arian Taherzadeh and Haider Ali, were ordered to be held in jail pending a detention hearing. According to court filings, one of the more troubling details of the case involves Taherzadah allegedly offering to give an assault rifle worth $2,000 to the Secret Service agent assigned to Jill Biden. The filing also says that Taherzadeh lent what he described as a “government vehicle” to the same Secret Service agent’s wife and also gave her a generator.

Taherzadeh is also accused of giving members of the Secret Service, as well as a legitimate DHS employee, “rent-free apartments (with a total yearly rent of over $40,000 per apartment), iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, a flat-screen television, a case for storing an assault rifle, a generator and law enforcement paraphernalia,” the filing states. Prosecutors say one of the agents who received the free rent and additional gifts is the Uniformed Division officer assigned to the White House.

But according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Harris still enjoys the president’s confidence for now. At Thursday’s press briefing, Psaki was asked about the scandal twice, and told reporters the incident is under investigation:

Q And on another topic: A Service agent from the First Lady’s detail was placed on administrative leave after they associated with and were provided gifts from two men who were pretending to be Homeland Security Investigations agents. Is the First Lady aware of this? Is the President aware of this? How concerned are they?

MS. PSAKI: I don’t have any comment from here. I’d point you to the Secret Service and others investigating.

Q So, just — do you have any further guidance on what these two men were after or who they may have been working with?

MS. PSAKI: It’s being investigated, and I would point you to the proper agencies for any further comment.

…

Q Let me ask you about the Secret Service very quickly, if I can. Does the President maintain confidence in the Director of the Secret Service, James Murray?

MS. PSAKI: Yes.

The White House referred Mediaite to the Secret Service for comment on the matter. The agency has released this statement:

The Secret Service has worked, and continues to work, with its law enforcement partners on this ongoing investigation. All personnel involved in this matter are on administrative leave and are restricted from accessing Secret Service facilities, equipment, and systems. The Secret Service adheres to the highest levels of professional standards and conduct and will remain in active coordination with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.

Murray was named to his post by then-President Donald Trump following a raft of firings.

Watch above via The White House.

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