The insignia of the United States Secret Service is painted on a wall at Secret Service Headquarters in Washington.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
The U.S. Secret Service is investigating allegations that one of its agents sexually assaulted a female staffer for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, the service confirmed Wednesday.
According to a report by Real Clear Politics, the agent visited Green Bay, Wisconsin, last week to scout the vice president’s campaign locations, where he allegedly ate and drank with the woman and several other Harris campaign staffers before forcibly groping her in a hotel room.
Asked about the report, a Secret Service spokesperson told CNBC, “The United States Secret Service’s Office of Professional Ethics is investigating allegations of misconduct by an employee.”
“The Secret Service demands the highest standards from its employees,” a spokesperson said in an email. “The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation.”
In a statement regarding the reports, Harris’ office told NBC News that “the Office of the Vice President takes the safety of its staff seriously.”
“We have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct. The Office of the Senior Vice President was alerted by the USSS about an incident involving an agent and has been informed that the USSS has opened an investigation,” Harris’ office said. “The Office of the Vice President will not be releasing any further information.”
Real Clear Politics reported that the agents’ actions toward the Harris campaign staffer “appeared to have been witnessed by others in the room.”
The incident comes as the Secret Service continues to face harsh criticism following the assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania on July 13.
A gunman climbed onto a roof overlooking the rally and opened fire on former President Trump, hitting him with a bullet, killing one rally attendee and wounding two other men, before being shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.
A report released Wednesday by the Senate Homeland Security Committee and its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that the roles and responsibilities of Secret Service advance guards at Trump rallies were “unclear and lacked accountability” and that the Secret Service “did not adequately coordinate with state and local law enforcement.”
The report also said Secret Service agents questioned by committee staff for the report “shifted the blame” for nearly killing Trump.