WASHINGTON, DC – A Secret Service agent has reportedly been placed on leave with his security clearance suspended after the agent allegedly leaked “sensitive security information” regarding Vice President JD Vance’s security detail to an undercover journalist.
On January 13th, investigative journalist James O’Keefe published a report and accompanying video alleging Secret Service Agent Tomas Escotto, who was reportedly a “holdover from the Biden administration,” shared highly sensitive information with an undercover journalist regarding Vice President Vance’s security detail.
Per O’Keefe report, Escotto shared with the undercover reporter “protective formations, shift schedules, travel plans, & real-time locations” about the Vice President, while also nonchalantly vocalizing his disdain for the Trump administration’s approach on immigration as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as an agency overall.
Per the admissions of Escotto obtained on video by the undercover journalist, he’s been a Secret Service agent for approximately five years, obtaining one of the highest and most important security details within the United States despite only becoming a legal citizen of the country back in 2018.
While Secret Service officials have not confirmed whether Escotto’s conduct violated any federal laws, they apparently did confirm that his conduct likely violated the professional code of conduct Secret Service agents are held to. The agency has since placed the agent on administrative leave while also revoking his security clearance and access to all agency facilities and systems.
Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn sent out a memo to all agency staff prior to O’Keefe’s report going live, informing staff that one of their agents had been “targeted and manipulated by a citizen-journalism media organization” which resulted in the agent in question failing “to meet the standards demanded of this agency and engaged in conduct that runs counter to our values, our policies, and the training we provide to prevent exactly this type of compromise.”
“I recognize that situations like this can involve real personal pressures, and I do not dismiss the gravity of that,” Deputy Director Quinn wrote in the memo, adding, “Still, I am disappointed in how this was handled and in the impact it will have on others. When one person falls short, it places an added burden on colleagues who are left to rebuild trust that each of us works hard every day to earn and protect.”
Deputy Director Quinn has also mandated that all Secret Service personnel undergo the agency’s anti-espionage training again so that incidents like the one involving Escotto do not happen again.
On January 13th, investigative journalist James O’Keefe published a report and accompanying video alleging Secret Service Agent Tomas Escotto, who was reportedly a “holdover from the Biden administration,” shared highly sensitive information with an undercover journalist regarding Vice President Vance’s security detail.
Per O’Keefe report, Escotto shared with the undercover reporter “protective formations, shift schedules, travel plans, & real-time locations” about the Vice President, while also nonchalantly vocalizing his disdain for the Trump administration’s approach on immigration as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as an agency overall.
Per the admissions of Escotto obtained on video by the undercover journalist, he’s been a Secret Service agent for approximately five years, obtaining one of the highest and most important security details within the United States despite only becoming a legal citizen of the country back in 2018.
While Secret Service officials have not confirmed whether Escotto’s conduct violated any federal laws, they apparently did confirm that his conduct likely violated the professional code of conduct Secret Service agents are held to. The agency has since placed the agent on administrative leave while also revoking his security clearance and access to all agency facilities and systems.
Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn sent out a memo to all agency staff prior to O’Keefe’s report going live, informing staff that one of their agents had been “targeted and manipulated by a citizen-journalism media organization” which resulted in the agent in question failing “to meet the standards demanded of this agency and engaged in conduct that runs counter to our values, our policies, and the training we provide to prevent exactly this type of compromise.”
“I recognize that situations like this can involve real personal pressures, and I do not dismiss the gravity of that,” Deputy Director Quinn wrote in the memo, adding, “Still, I am disappointed in how this was handled and in the impact it will have on others. When one person falls short, it places an added burden on colleagues who are left to rebuild trust that each of us works hard every day to earn and protect.”
Deputy Director Quinn has also mandated that all Secret Service personnel undergo the agency’s anti-espionage training again so that incidents like the one involving Escotto do not happen again.
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