Special Agent In Charge Kerry O’Grady of the U.S. Secret Service’s Denver office is tasked with handling the advance team from Washington for all presidential visits to the area. She’s also a Hillary Clinton supporter, with an unabashed disdain for President Trump. Prior to Election Day, she had multiple social media posts, one of which said that she would rather go to jail than take a bullet for Trump, according to Susan Crabtree of The Washington Examiner.
Crabtree added that these posts were made on Facebook, where O’Grady is friends with current and former Secret Service agents. Of course, someone took notice, filing a complaint that has the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general looking into the matter. O’Grady says that her feelings about the current administration won’t impact how she executes her job. Nevertheless, it has some of her former colleagues shocked. The Secret Service says it will take “appropriate actions,” though they didn’t specify what that meant (via Fox News):
Gary Byrne, who guarded President Clinton and the Oval Office during a 12-year stint with the Secret Service, told Fox News Special Agent Kerry O’Grady’s revelation on Facebook was astonishing.“It is unheard of and unbelievable that someone at her level would comment publicly on being unwilling to protect the president,” said Byrne, author of “Crisis of Character,” a book that came out during the presidential campaign that was highly critical of Hillary Clinton.
“Everyone has their own personal political opinions, but this job is not personal. You take an oath to the country, not the person. You are protecting the office, and what makes the country great.”
Dan Emmett, a retired Secret Service agent and author of “Within Arms Length” and “I Am a Secret Service Agent,” said, "In my view, O'Grady can no longer function with any degree of credibility as an agent and should retire or be dismissed by the Secret Service."
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The Secret Service is reportedly "taking appropriate action" after news broke that O’Grady had made the comments in an October Facebook post. The agency did not say if O’Grady, who is in charge of the Denver office, could be disciplined or even fired, but her comments may be in violation of The Hatch Act. That 1939 law bars certain federal employees from engaging in political activity to promote fairness and nonpartisanship within the workplace. The Secret Service is among the agencies affected by the Hatch Act.
O’Grady is also a member of The Association of Former Agents U.S. Secret Service. Crabtree reported that she was expelled from that group Wednesday over her online antics:
In an emailed notice to all of its members on Wednesday, the organization said its Board of Directors had decided to expel O'Grady from its membership. The Board of Directors vote to expel her was unanimous, the email said."By 12:00N January 25, 2017, a motion was made by me and seconded and given to the Board of Directors to address the expulsion of Associate Member O'Grady …" Jan Gilhooly, president of AFAUSSS, wrote in the email sent to all members. "[O'Grady] engaged in conduct deemed by a majority of the Board to be detrimental to the Association of the U.S. Secret Service …"
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