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The United States Secret Service is investigating one of their agents for allegedly groping one of the female staff members of the office of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Knewz.com has learned that the incident occurred in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the previous week.
Staff members of the Harris campaign and the Vice President's Security Service protective detail were in Wisconsin scouting for locations for a scheduled event.
However, the campaign decided to go to Atlanta instead on September 20.
It has been reported that the accused Secret Service agent and several members of Harris' campaign staff were at a local restaurant after work, dining and drinking alcohol.
The group went back to the female staffer's hotel room, where the inebriated special agent allegedly forced himself upon her and groped her.
It was reported that the incident was witnessed by other people present at the time.
One of the sources with knowledge of the incident said in a statement to the media that the agent in question was so drunk he was "kicked out of his hotel room by co-workers and passed out in the hallway, where photos were taken of him."
A Secret Service official has stated that the department's local field office in Wisconsin was informed of the incident, following which the agent's gun and badge were confiscated.
He was soon summoned to the Secret Service headquarters in Washington D.C. and ordered to meet with investigators in the Inspections Division, the department that handles investigations into disciplinary matters, on September 23.
The accused agent has been placed on administrative leave until the investigation is concluded.
A spokesperson from the Secret Service said in a statement, "The U.S. Secret Service Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating a misconduct allegation involving an employee."
"The Secret Service holds its personnel to the highest standards... The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation," the spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC and Real Clear Politics.
The office of the Vice President has shared a statement in the aftermath of the incident as well, which said:
"The Office of the Vice President take the safety of staff seriously... We have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct. Senior OVP [Office of the Vice Presiden] officials were alerted by the USSS [Secret Service] about an incident involving an agent and informed that USSS initiated an investigation."
It has been pointed out that the Secret Service prohibits the consumption of any alcohol at the hotel in which a president or other top protectee is staying. However, the rule does not apply in this case since Harris herself was not present at the hotel at the time.
Real Clear Politics noted in its report that the accused Secret Service agent "likely broke a prohibition on drinking alcohol within 10 hours of reporting for duty," further noting that whether his actions constitute sexual assault will be determined in court.
It is worth noting that the allegations against the special agent came at a time when the Secret Service is already in hot water over the two assassination attempts on former President and Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
It has been reported that Congress has raised questions about whether the Secret Service is capable of adequately protecting former President Trump, President Joe Biden, Vice President Harris, and other protectees.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee and its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a 94-page interim report on September 25 which found that the Secret Service's "failure" during and ahead of the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania – the location of the first assassination attempt on Trump – were “entirely foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt that day.”
The report also mentioned that the Secret Service’s advance personnel roles and responsibilities for Trump’s rally “were unclear and lacked accountability” and that the department “failed to sufficiently coordinate with state and local law enforcement.”
"USSS advance agents told the Committee that planning and security were made jointly, with no specific individual responsible for approval," the report said.