Trump revokes Secret Service protection for Kamala Harris

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has revoked U.S. Secret Service protection for former Vice President Kamala Harris, a senior adviser to Harris told NBC News on Friday.

“The Vice President is grateful to the United States Secret Service for their professionalism, dedication, and unwavering commitment to safety," the adviser said.

A senior White House official confirmed Friday that Trump had revoked Harris’ Secret Service detail, adding that vice presidents typically only get six months of protection when they leave office.

Congress passed legislation in 2008 that authorized the Secret Service to protect former vice presidents, their spouses and their children under 16 years old for up to six months after the end of a vice president’s term.

A Secret Service official told NBC that while that's true, then-President Joe Biden signed an executive memorandum in January extending Harris’ protection to 18 months.

Aides to the former president didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The Secret Service Under Fire

It's been a tough year for the Secret Service. One after another the hits just keep coming for one of the most legendary law enforcement agencies out there. Their job description requires among other things, a readiness to step between the person they are protecting and anyone or thing that may pose a danger to their principal. In the most extreme case they would be expected to use their bodies as human shields and "take the bullet" meant for the President. (At least one agent has done exactly that.) And for 113 years they have, with one truly horrific exception, kept the President's of this country safe from harm despite several close calls.

But now we have people openly questioning whether they are up to the job after a series of scandals and revelations of embarrassing security lapses. Recently an armed man not only jumped the White House fence but managed to force his way into the Executive Mansion itself where he ran amok until finally tackled by an off duty agent.

Possibly though, the most alarming revelation has just made it into the open. Two weeks ago an armed man with a violent criminal record, who somehow had acquired a job as security contractor for the CDC, managed to ride an elevator with President Obama! That's crazy.

Worst Op-Ed of the Month

OK, there are still a few days left in September. But I am calling it game over and handing this month's prize to Dan Emmett for this piece promoting a further militarization of our society and law enforcement. I won't even touch who he wants to put in charge of protecting the President of the United States.

Secret Service will now have chaperones

Embarrassed by a prostitution scandal, the Secret Service will assign chaperones on some trips to enforce new rules of conduct that make clear that excessive drinking, entertaining foreigners in their hotel rooms and cavorting in disreputable establishments are no longer tolerated.

The stricter measures, issued by the Secret Service on Friday for agents and employees, apply even when traveling personnel are off duty.

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This is waaayyy over the top. These guys are the only people in the world trusted with loaded firearms near the President of the United States and we are now going to assign them nannies to make sure they are in bed on time (and alone)? I'm sorry but people need to get a grip here. Yes, some agents behaved badly and brought disrepute on themselves and embarrassed their boss.  Most of them have been fired and rightly so. But as far as I know there is no suggestion of anything illegal occurring or any compromise in security.  If things have reached the point where the President's bodyguards need a chaperone then it's time to find new bodyguards.  And no, I don't think we are anywhere near that point. 

The press has taken a garden variety scandal involving a handful of agents behaving like jerks and blown it completely out of proportion.

Three are out in Secret Service scandal

Secret Service agents guarding President Reagan in 1981. The Secret Service has protected every president since Theodore Roosevelt.

Two U.S. Secret Service personnel involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal have agreed to leave the department, officials said Wednesday, as the agency moves to manage the fallout of the embarassing episode.

One has agreed to resign and the other, a supervisor, intends to retire, the agency announced in a statement. A third, who is also a supervisor, has been recommended for firing, but he will have an opportunity to appeal, officials said.

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Secret Service moves and then loses car

Martena Clinton drove to the Congressional Black Caucus dinner at the Washington Convention Center on Saturday with high expectations. A friend had arranged a ticket, and Clinton wore a special diamond pendant over her black dress. She parked in a handicapped spot close to the intersection of 9th Street and Mount Vernon Place and glanced in the mirror. She decided the diamond pendant didn't go with her dress, took it off and put it in a console.

She displayed a handicapped tag prominently, locked her car and checked with a police officer who happened to be parked right behind her. He assured her the spot was legal. Clinton put her credit cards, cash and makeup in a pocketbook and left it in the trunk, carrying a small purse into the dinner. It was 5:30 p.m.

When she emerged from the dinner at 11:30 p.m., her black 1994 Lexus was gone.

The police officer who responded to Clinton's distressed call told her that the Secret Service had done what many Washingtonians have grown begrudgingly used to: They ordered numerous cars removed from the area as a security precaution because President Obama was speaking at the dinner.

It should have been simple for Clinton to find her car - police told her that relocated vehicles are typically towed to different spots within a few blocks - but this time police had not kept track of where they had moved it. The Lexus was lost.

Read the rest here.

The new job reality check...

CHICAGO — A couple of weeks ago, Barack Obama headed to the Hyde Park Hair Salon for a trim. He greeted the staff and other customers and plopped down in the same chair in front of the same barber who has cut his hair for the last 14 years.

But when he wanted a trim this week, the Secret Service took one look at the shop’s large plate-glass windows and the gawking tourists eager for a glimpse of the president-elect and the plan quickly changed. If Mr. Obama could no longer come to the barber, the barber would come to him and cut his hair at a friend’s apartment.

Life for the newly chosen president and his family has changed forever. Even the constraints and security of the campaign trail do not compare to the bubble that has enveloped him in the 10 days since his election. Renegade, as the Secret Service calls him, now lives within the strict limits that come with the most powerful office on the planet.

Read the rest here.

I did not vote for the guy. But I do feel for him and his family. I often think that anyone who actually wants that job has to be either incredibly patriotic or nuts. Maybe a little of both.