Posts

White House Petition Demands Secret Service be Replaced by Gun-Free Zone

/8 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Saul Loeb/Getty ImagesA petition demanding that the Secret Service be replaced by a floating gun-free zone has crossed the original threshold for White House action, a blog post at Weasel Zippers said Monday.

“Gun Free Zones are supposed to protect our children, and some politicians wish to strip us of our right to keep and bear arms,” the petition says. “Those same politicians and their families are currently under the protection of armed Secret Service agents. If Gun Free Zones are sufficient protection for our children, then Gun Free Zones should be good enough for politicians.”

As of this writing, the petition has over 31,000 signatures. Unfortunately, the White House recently increased the threshold for action from 25,000 to 100,000 signatures.

Since the Sandy Hook shooting, the concept of gun-free zones has come under fire. For critics, the designations amount to little more than a magnet for criminals with guns. The signs announcing gun-free zones, for them, are nothing more than an invitation to armed criminals.

Read more from this story HERE.

Secret Service Dog Falls to Death While Doing Security Sweep for Biden

/8 Comments/in /by

NEW ORLEANS — A Secret Service dog fell to its death off a New Orleans parking garage while conducting a security sweep for Vice President Biden.

WWL-TV reports the dog fell off the six-story roof at the Premier Parking garage adjacent to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel where Biden was speaking for Sen. Mary Landrieu’s re-election fundraiser.

The Belgian shepherd was rushed to Metairie Veterinary hospital by motorcade but attempts to revive the dog proved unsuccessful.

Read more from this story HERE.

DEA Agents Arranged Prostitute for Secret Service Agent

/0 Comments/in , /by

Two U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents “facilitated a sexual encounter” between a prostitute and a U.S. Secret Service agent days before President Barack Obama visited Colombia for a summit meeting in April 2012, according to a Justice Department investigation obtained exclusively by NBC News.

A summary of the findings of the investigation, included in a Dec. 20 letter from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General to Sens. Joseph Lieberman and Susan Collins, indicated that a third DEA agent present on the night of the incident was not involved in procuring the prostitute for the Secret Service agent.

“While DEA agent #3 was present for a dinner that took place earlier that evening with the USSS agent and the other two DEA agents, he was not present in the residence when the sexual encounter took place and played no role in facilitating it,” the summary said.

All three DEA special agents admitted that they had paid for sexual services of a prostitute, the investigation also found, and “used their DEA Blackberry devices to arrange such activities.” In addition, the report says the agents tried to destroy incriminating information or initially lied to investigators about the incidents. All three agents have high-security clearances.

The summary concluded that the agents’ actions did not warrant criminal prosecution. It said the U.S. Attorney’s Office also “declined to initiate legal proceedings.” It said the case had been referred to the DEA for “action it determines to be appropriate.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Secret Service Under Investigation Over loss of Sensitive Files On Metro

/2 Comments/in , /by

The Secret Service is the target of an investigation into an “immense breach” involving the loss of two backup computer tapes left on a Washington, D.C., Metro train that contained sensitive personal information about all agency employees, contacts and overseas informants, according to multiple law enforcement and congressional sources.

The ongoing probe is one of 13 new investigations involving the Secret Service launched by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG) in recent months. The new investigations stem from information received during the course of DHS-OIG’s ongoing ‘Culture of Secret Service’ probe, requested by the Senate Homeland Committee in the wake of the Cartagena, Colombia prostitution scandal in April. While these new investigations are ongoing, the Culture of the Secret Service report is expected to be released sometime in the spring.

The Secret Service acknowledged the incident surrounding the lost tapes, but downplayed the security risk.

Sources said the tapes were lost on the Red Line of the Metro in 2008 by a young, low-level associate of a private contracting company that had been hired to transport them from Secret Service’s Investigative Resources Management division at the agency’s headquarters in the Penn Quarter section of Washington, D.C., to a secure vault in Olney, Md., where government agencies store contingency plans, documents and other backup material. The employee had volunteered to deliver the tapes because he lived near the location of the vault, but got off at the Glenmont, Md., Metro stop without the tapes, according to sources.

Sources said the “personally identifiable information” — or “PII,” in government-speak — on the tapes includes combinations of the following: Social Security Numbers; home addresses; information about family members; phone numbers; dates of birth; medical information; bank account numbers; employment information; driver’s license numbers; passport numbers; and any biometric information on file with the Secret Service.

Read more from this story HERE.

Is the Secret Service Ignoring Threats Against Mitt Romney?

/7 Comments/in , /by

The Secret Service appears to be playing politics by ignoring threats of riots and violence against Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made by leftist filmmaker Michael Moore and the liberal group MoveOn.

The threat was made via a web ad video released earlier this week in which Moore and MoveOn hide behind elderly women who make scripted terrorist threats against Romney and the nation over the presidential election.

One woman is shown inciting riots if Romney defeats Democratic party President Barack Obama, “I want the Republican party to know, if your voter suppression throughout this beautiful country enables Romney to oust Barack Obama, we will burn this mother****** down!” (Expletive edited from original.)

Another woman says she’ll attack Romney in his genitals, “If the Republicans steal this election, I am going to track down Mitt Romney and give him the world’s biggest ****-punch. What’s the matter sonny, you never heard that phrase, ****-punch? Right in the *******.” (Expletives deleted from original.)

Several phone calls to the Secret Service public affairs office about the threat to Romney, who is under their protection, over the past few days have not been returned. Detailed messages of inquiry were left with the voicemail of spokesman George Ogilvie.A search of news sites shows no articles reporting a Secret Service investigation in to the threat.

Read more from this story HERE.

Seen a Threatening Tweet? Alert the Secret Service!

/1 Comment/in /by

Twitter users sent more than 6.5 million Tweets during the third presidential debate Monday – and a few of them were death threats against President Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Less than 24 hours later, the Secret Service took to Twitter in what the department calls a new tactic to gather information on potential threats against the people they protect.

“To report a tweet that concerns you,” @SecretService wrote Tuesday in its first such Tweet, “call the nearest field office in your state.” The agency posted a similar message Wednesday morning.

The Secret Service wants to be aware of what messages are being disseminated on Twitter as the social networking website grows, said Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan. The Secret Service has been on Twitter for more than a year and has no other social media accounts.

“We’re not an intelligence agency – we’re consumers of information,” Donovan said. “We cast a wide net for information, and that includes law enforcement agencies, federal agencies and the general public.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Secret Service director suspected of lying to Congress about prostitution scandal

/1 Comment/in , /by

An investigation for the agency that oversees the U.S. Secret Service suggests Director Mark Sullivan lied during his congressional testimony in the Colombia prostitution scandal that ensnared 13 of his agents, multiple law enforcement officials and congressional sources tell FoxNews.com.

Investigators with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) have completed their investigative report, which will be referred to the Department of Justice along with a memorandum of activity that lists potential criminal actions. The report indicates Sullivan may have obstructed Congress by lying about the criminal associations of prostitutes involved in the scandal. The report also alleges Sullivan may have manipulated a report requested by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the sources said.

DHS OIG uncovered the evidence — including specific incidents of alleged perjury, making false statements and impeding Congress — during their ongoing probe into the scandal surrounding agents’ misconduct prior to President Obama’s trip to Cartagena, Colombia last April, sources told FoxNews.com. Sources said Sullivan may have violated statute 18 USC § 1505 — obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees — and investigators are now handing the case over to federal prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section.

DHS OIG has been in talks with Justice Department prosecutors in the Public Integrity Section for months, and met with them late last week about the potential charges against Sullivan, sources said. The OIG, however, declined to discuss details of its investigation.

“The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General is conducting an ongoing investigation, requested by Congress, of the United States Secret Service regarding its actions during a presidential visit to Cartagena, Colombia, earlier this year,” Charles Edwards, acting inspector general, said in a written statement. “The department and the Secret Service have cooperated with the OIG’s investigation thus far. However, as a matter of policy, the OIG does not discuss its ongoing investigations.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Blast from the Past: Pro-Life Woman Complains Obama Pro-Abortion, Gets Secret Service Visit

/16 Comments/in , /by

A pro-life woman who received an unsolicited phone call from the Barack Obama campaign complained about his pro-abortion position. The call earned her a visit from the Secret Service, who were apparently given erroneous information from the campaign volunteer that she made a death threat.

Jessica Hughes of Texas says she received a phone call last Wednesday from a woman with the Obama Volunteers of Texarkana.

She told the Lufkin Daily News: “She asked if I was an Obama supporter, to which I replied, ‘No, I don’t support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time.’ (And then) I hung up.”

Hughes was referring to bills in the Illinois legislature that Obama opposed that would have required medical personnel to provide appropriate medical care for babies who survive failed abortions. A Chicago nurse had exposed how some of the babies were left to die.

Her comment about abortion was apparently changed by the Obama volunteer and reported to the Secret Service, who are protecting both presidential candidates.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama’s Secret Service Agent Arrested, in Drunken Stupor on Miami Sidewalk (+video)

/18 Comments/in , /by

U.S. Secret Service agent Aaron Francis Engler was found early Friday morning passed out on the sidewalk near the intersection of Brickell Avenue and 7th just hours after President Barack Obama had left South Florida.

According to the arrest report, Miami police officers were in the area around 7 a.m. on an unrelated call when they noticed Engler passed out. According to the arrest report, when the officers checked on the man, he had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and a strong odor of alcohol. Police said Engler started throwing his arms around while he and started to fight with officers, the report said.

The officers then took Engler to the ground and handcuffed him. As an officer searched Engler’s pockets, he discovered Engler’s Secret Service identification.

The officer didn’t make the find without a fight. During the search, sources said Engler threw his arms around and hit the officer in the chin.

Law enforcement sources told CBS4 Engler told police he was an agent out of Washington and was part of the advance team for the president’s visit on Thursday.

Video: Interview with Facebook-posting Marine Veteran: “I am Scared for My Country”

/3 Comments/in , /by

In an interview with Attorney John Whitehead today, Marine Veteran Brandon Raub describes his arrest for his Facebook posts, his incarceration in a psych ward, and the state of the country: “I’m pretty tough, so I rolled with the punches. But it made me scared for my country that a man can be snatched out of his property without being read his rights, I think it should be very alarming to all Americans.” Here’s the interview: