A Secret Service special agent who suggested she would rather face "jail time" than take "a bullet" for President Trump has raised serious legal problems for herself by mixing political activity with her sworn duty to protect the president, according to attorneys who specialize in this area of the law.
The Secret Service's Office of Professional Responsibility, its main internal ethics entity, has launched a formal investigation into the matter. That probe will likely focus on general misconduct — her threat not to carry out her most basic job responsibility to defend the president, as well as Hatch Act violations.
The Hatch Act bars executive branch staff, except the president, vice president and some other senior executive officials, from engaging in certain political activities. It doesn't carry jail time as a penalty, but she could be forced to resign under Hatch Act violations alone.
The Facebook posts that Kerry O'Grady wrote over the last seven months have sparked a firestorm in the Secret Service and broader federal law-enforcement community.
Several sources have told the Washington Examiner that the current and retired agents are trained and re-trained about Hatch Act restrictions by legal experts during a required 16-week Special Agent Training Course.
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04.28.2024