The Secret Service insignia is painted on the wall of the Secret Service headquarters in Washington.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
The U.S. Secret Service confirmed Wednesday that it is investigating allegations that one of its agents sexually assaulted a female staffer in Vice President Kamala Harris’s office.
According to Real Clear Politics, the agent allegedly forcibly assaulted and groped her in her hotel room after she and other Harris staffers dined and drank with her at a restaurant in Green Bay, Wisconsin, last week while scouting locations for Harris’s presidential campaign.
Asked about the report, a Secret Service spokesperson told CNBC, “The U.S. Secret Service Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating allegations of misconduct involving an employee.”
“The Secret Service holds its employees to the highest standards,” a spokesperson said in an email. “The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.”
“The Office of the Vice President takes the safety of its employees very seriously,” Harris’ office told NBC News in a statement about the report.
“We have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct. OVP senior leadership was alerted by the USSS to an incident involving an agent and was made aware that the USSS was investigating,” Harris’ office said. “The Office of the Vice President will not be releasing any further information.”
Real Clear Politics reported that the agent’s actions toward Harris campaign staffers “appeared to have been witnessed by others in the room.”
The incident comes as the Secret Service faces sharp criticism over its role in the attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania on July 13.
President Trump was shot, one rally attendee was killed and two others were wounded. A gunman climbed onto a rooftop overlooking the rally and opened fire on the former president before being killed by a Secret Service sniper.
A report released Wednesday by the Senate Homeland Security Committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that the Secret Service’s pre-staffing role and responsibilities for Trump rallies were “unclear and unaccountable” and that the Secret Service “failed to cooperate adequately with state and local law enforcement.”
The report also said Secret Service agents questioned by committee staff in connection with the report “shifted the blame” for Trump’s near-death experience.
