Secret Service Agent Put on Leave After Being Suspected of Leaking About JD Vance: Report

Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP

A Secret Service agent on Vice President JD Vance’s security detail has been placed on administrative leave after being suspected of leaking to the press, CNN reported on Wednesday night.

The agent has been placed under review, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Another source said the administration believes the agent was a source for a July 15 MS NOW story titled “Vance’s security detail ‘fed up’ with hastily arranged personal and family travel requests.”

MS NOW reported at the time:

On Thursday last week, Secret Service agents groused among themselves as they prepared to deliver another perk to Vice President JD Vance’s family: join a military helicopter crew to fly his young son to his golf lesson.

The planned trip on Marine Two, the call-sign for the U.S. Marine Corps helicopter that carries the vice president, was canceled at the last minute due to severe thunderstorms and high winds in the Washington, D.C., area that day, according to two people with knowledge of the flight plans. Vance planned to travel with his son on the flight to Joint Base Andrews — which includes a secure, world-class golf center — according to two other administration officials with knowledge of his schedule.

Agents have shared concerns internally about Vance and his office pressing them for trips and assignments that some agents consider an inappropriate or even unprecedented use of government resources compared to prior vice presidents, they said.

The CNN report said the review of the agent is being conducted by the Secret Service’s internal affairs office, and that it is “unclear if any possible administrative punishment or criminal charges could be forthcoming.”

CNN noted that the Trump administration has been trying to crack down on leaks to the media.

This month, the Department of Justice subpoenaed four journalists for The New York Times who reported on security issues with the new Air Force One, which President Donald Trump accepted as a gift from the Qatari royal family. The DOJ is also seeking the journalists’ phone records.

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