海角大神

Secret Service laptop stolen: Can the agency shake its scandals?

Congress made recommendations for the Secret Service in 2015. But a theft in Brooklyn echoes earlier incidents.

|
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
A member of the Secret Service Uniform Division watches as Marine One, carrying President Trump and his family, departs from the South Lawn of the White House, March 3.

A Secret Service laptop with details about floor plans and evacuation protocol for Trump Tower was stolen from a car parked in the driveway of an agent鈥檚 Brooklyn home on Thursday.

In interviews with several news outlets, New York City law enforcement officials as a possible compromise of national security, given that sensitive information on the laptop could not be accessed remotely. A Secret Service press release said that agency laptops have 鈥渕ultiple layers of security including full disk encryption鈥 and were not permitted to contain classified information 鈥撀爐hough it could be used to access a server which does, according to the New York Daily News.

A backpack and other goods were also stolen from the car, including an access keycard, an agency radio, and lapel pins with Secret Service insignia that gave the agent, Marie Argentieri, ,聽Hillary Clinton, and Pope Francis, according to CNN. The backpack has since been recovered.

The incident echoes another from 2015, when an agent鈥檚 gun, badge, radio, and flash drive were swiped from the back seat of his car in downtown Washington, D.C. That theft generated scant attention compared to major Secret Service scandals of years prior, but the Brooklyn theft may raise questions about whether the agency has adapted in the ways recommended by Congress in a report from that year.

The report, produced by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, noted that some agents involved in the 2012 scandal in Cartagena, Colombia 鈥撀爄n which servicemen were found to have hired prostitutes 鈥撀left sensitive documents and equipment unsecured in their hotel rooms, wrote 海角大神鈥檚 Peter Grier then:

Underlying the agency鈥檚 troubles is a workforce that has had to do much more with much less, according to the congressional report. Since 2011, the Secret Service budget has been cut sharply. The agency鈥檚 leadership has done a bad job of managing shortfalls created by fewer dollars, says the study. Employee morale has fallen, leading experienced agents to walk out the door.

鈥淢any agency personnel who spoke to the Committee are desperate for new outside leadership willing to undertake dramatic reforms at the agency,鈥 the report concludes.

The study鈥檚 recommendations include paring back Secret Service responsibilities to focus on its core duty of protection of the president and other top officials, and sufficient funds to restore staffing to required levels.

The theft in Brooklyn came less than a week after 聽and remained on the grounds for more than 15 minutes, despite tripping several sensors. The Secret Service says it is investigating.

"The men and women of the Secret Service are extremely disappointed and angry in how the events of March 10 transpired,鈥 the agency said in a statement.

Two agents are also being investigated as he slept in a car bound from a Trump family estate in Westchester, N.Y. to Manhattan, reported Mother Jones this week.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
海角大神 was founded in 1908 to lift the standard of journalism and uplift humanity. We aim to 鈥渟peak the truth in love.鈥 Our goal is not to tell you what to think, but to give you the essential knowledge and understanding to come to your own intelligent conclusions. Join us in this mission by subscribing.
QR Code to Secret Service laptop stolen: Can the agency shake its scandals?
Read this article in
/USA/Politics/2017/0318/Secret-Service-laptop-stolen-Can-the-agency-shake-its-scandals
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
/subscribe