Secret Service Plotted to Embarrass Congressman

In the latest embarrassment for the Secret Service, agents were found to have improperly accessed, shared and potentially released an unsuccessful 2003 Secret Service job application of Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah, according to a government report.

Jason Chaffetz’s investigation of the service, top agents dug into his files and chose to leak information about the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman, including the fact that he had unsuccessfully applied to join the service in 2003, reports the Washington Post. “Although the inspector general identified no evidence of political motivation or influence, I believe in fundamental fairness, and those who are unwilling or unable to meet the highest of ethical standards should not be a part of the Secret Service”.

Agents or Secret Service staffers accessed Chaffetz’s records about 60 times and, with a few exceptions, violated federal privacy laws and government policies, the report says.

The report specifically said Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy, whom President Barack Obama appointed in February to clean up a long series of scandals at the agency, was not aware of the improper behavior. Eighteen supervisors, including Assistant Director Edward Lowery suggesting leaking the information, knew that the file was being circulated widely around the agency.

On March 24, a week before Lowery sent the email, Chaffetz scolded the agency and director Clancy for the breaches at a congressional hearing.

The episode “reflects extremely poor judgment and a lack of care” by a number of employees, said Inspector General John Roth.

“The Secret Service takes employee misconduct very seriously, and, as I have stated before, any employee, regardless of rank or seniority, who has committed misconduct will be held accountable”, Clancy said in a statement. “It doesn’t take a lawyer explaining the nuances of the Privacy Act to know that the conduct that occurred here – by dozens of agents in every part of the agency – was simply wrong”.

The Secret Service’s motto is: “Worthy of Trust and Confidence”. The Daily Beast first reported on April 2 that Chaffetz had once been rejected for a job at the service.

“Activities like those described in the report must not, and will not, be tolerated”, said Johnson. Within the Secret Service, “BQA” is an acronym meaning that a “better qualified applicant” was available. The DHS report said it was “especially ironic and troubling” that Clancy was apparently unaware of any wrongdoing in the Secret Service, even though his chief of staff and deputy director knew of the leak but failed to alert him. In an interview with the inspector general, Lowery denied that he told anyone to release the information. He told Roth the email was “reflecting his stress and his anger.”… Both agents and senior level supervisors were involved in or should have known about the attempts to access Chaffetz’s information.

At the time of the allegations, Clancy was in temporary charge of the agency after previous director Julia Pierson was ousted after the disclosure of two security breaches.