The Secret Service is making changes that will give Democratic President-elect Joseph R. Biden a more familiar team of faces in the new year.
The incoming president will be bringing along a new security detail.
“That is smart to give the incoming president the comfort of the familiar,” one former Secret Service executive, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post. “You want him to be with people he knows and trusts, and who also know how he operates.”
The newspaper reported that Mr. Biden’s allies have concerns “that some current members were politically aligned with President Trump.”
Multiple sources discusses the changes with the Post, although Secret Service spokeswoman Catherine Milhoan stressed the agency’s apolitical nature when asked for comment.
“The U.S. Secret Service is uniquely authorized to provide protection to designated U.S. and other world leaders and remains steadfastly dedicated to a standard of excellence in those operations, wholly apolitically and unaffiliated with the political parties of protectees,” Ms. Milhoan said in a statement. “As a matter of practice and due to operational security, the agency does not comment on protective operations inclusive of internal decisions on agency assignments.”
The newspaper cited reports of “some presidential detail members [who] urged other agents and Secret Service officers not to wear masks on presidential trips,” to buttress its report.
It also noted the “unprecedented step” of allowing former detail leader Anthony Ornato to leave his to become a White House political adviser during President Trump’s 2020 campaign
Mr. Ornato is returning to the agency and will serve as the assistant director overseeing the Rowley Training Center, the Post reported.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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