Secret Service officials have been called to testify before lawmakers on Capitol Hill over a recent incident regarding agents on Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris’s protective detail.
As Slay News reported at the time, a brawl broke out between agents on April 22.
The incident occurred at Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
One of the agents was handcuffed and taken into custody.
Following the clash, allegations emerged that the agent at the center of the incident had been hired under the federal agency’s radical “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) policies.
The incident led to dozens of Secret Service agents calling on Congress to investigate the policy that led to the agent being assigned to the vice president’s security detail.
The Secret Service officials will testify before Congress on June 21.
It comes in response to a letter from House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY).
In a statement, a Secret Service spokesperson said:
“In response to the letter received from Chairman James Comer, the U.S. Secret Service will comply with the House Oversight Committee’s request for a briefing on the topics outlined in the publicly available letter dated May 30, 2024.”
Comer wrote to U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, an appointee of President Joe Biden.
“It was recently reported that a Secret Service agent, tasked with protecting Vice President Kamala Harris, physically attacked her superior (and the commanding agent in charge) and other agents trying to subdue her while on duty at Joint Base Andrews and assigned to the Vice President’s protective detail,” Comer wrote to Cheatle.
The agent, who was ultimately escorted away in handcuffs, has been removed from the vice president’s detail.
The Secret Service has described the incident as a “medical matter.”
There may have been a number of incidents, according to a petition circulated within the agency by Secret Service personnel seeking a congressional investigation, according to a Bloomberg reporter.
The agents asserted problems with inadequate training and a double standard in disciplinary actions.
“This incident raised concerns within the agency about the hiring and screening process for this agent: specifically, whether previous incidents in her work history were overlooked during the hiring process as years of staff shortages had led the agency to lower once stricter standards as part of a diversity, equity, and inclusion effort,” Comer’s letter to Cheatle continues.
Comer asked Cheatle for a briefing for committee staff on or before June 13, so the Secret Service briefing will be a few days later.
The Secret Service provides protection to the president, the vice president, their spouses and children.
The Washington Examiner first reported the incident.
Real Clear Politics identified the agent as Michelle Herczeg, a female agent on Harris’s security detail.
An ambulance took Herczeg to an area hospital where the agent was admitted.
Real Clear Politics reported that Herczeg was acting “erratically” and punched her fellow agent.
Joint Base Andrews is where Air Force One and Air Force Two transport the president and vice president.
Harris was still at the vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory when the altercation happened, and the confrontation did not delay her travel.
