By Kamala Harris has once again found herself in an episode of “Veep.” A Secret Service agent tasked with protecting the vice president was involved in a brawl with other agents earlier in the week. The incident took place at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C., before Harris’s scheduled arrival.
The fight occurred after what has been described as “an apparent mental breakdown.”
The Washington Examiner spoke with Secret Service sources and detailed the scary scene.
The Washington Examiner understands that the agent became aggressive with other agents. When the special agent in charge and a detail shift supervisor attempted to calm the agent, a physical altercation ensued. The agent was handcuffed before being withdrawn from service for medical assessment. Harris was scheduled to arrive at Andrews Air Force Base after the incident.
In a statement, Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi told the Washington Examiner, “At approximately 9 a.m. April 22, a U.S. Secret Service special agent supporting the Vice President’s departure from Joint Base Andrews began displaying behavior their colleagues found distressing. The agent was removed from their assignment while medical personnel were summoned. The Vice President was at the Naval Observatory when this incident occurred and there was no impact on her departure from Joint Base Andrews. The U.S. Secret Service takes the safety and health of our employees very seriously. As this was a medical matter, we will not disclose any further details.”
All Secret Service agents are armed while on domestic protective duty. But as with their Diplomatic Security Service counterparts, agents assigned to protective details endure heavy travel burdens, often working long hours away from home. The psychological health of armed agents serving in very close proximity to high-ranking government officials and foreign heads of state is thus a high-priority concern for the Secret Service.
Moreover, the Vice Presidential Protective Division is widely regarded within the Secret Service as the second most prestigious assignment after the Presidential Protective Division. Because of the continuity of government protocols, VPD agents are party to exceptionally sensitive planning on responses to nuclear war and catastrophic terrorist attacks or environmental disasters. Agents must serve in field offices for a minimum of three years and receive excellent performance reports before going to VPD. They must also then pass the intensive Protective Detail Training course at the Secret Service’s James J. Rowley training facility in the DC suburbs.
Kamala Harris has not had a great time as vice president. Throughout her term, staff have been fleeing working for her, blaming “dysfunction” and a poor work environment from the veep.
In 2021, for example, after she flopped as the Biden administration’s “border czar,” the knives came out. Politico reported that “while much of the ire is aimed at Harris’ chief, two administration officials said the VP herself also bears responsibility for the way her office is run. “It all starts at the top,” said one of the administration officials, who like others requested anonymity to be able to speak candidly about a sensitive matter.
‘People are thrown under the bus from the very top, there are short fuses and it’s an abusive environment,’ said another person with direct knowledge of how Harris’ office is run. ‘It’s not a healthy environment and people often feel mistreated. It’s not a place where people feel supported but a place where people feel treated like s—.’
The dysfunction in the VP’s ranks threatens to complicate the White House’s carefully crafted image as a place staffed by a close-knit group of professionals working in concert to advance the president’s agenda. It’s pronounced enough that members of the president’s own team have taken notice and are concerned about the way Harris’ staffers are treated.”
Harris has become a political liability for Biden, an 82-year-old who has “senior moments.”
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