Posted on 07/01/2017 4:50:38 AM PDT by markomalley
After proclaiming on social media that she would not “take a bullet” for President Donald Trump, a United States Secret Service agent is still being paid with American tax dollars, while receiving little reprisal for her declared breach of duty.
Furthermore, since the agent pledged her disloyalty to Trump on Facebook last year while he was on the campaign trail, the Washington Free Beacon reported that the so-called “public servant” has not received comparable punishment to what other agents were dealt for “similarly serious or lesser misconduct.
Bragging about not doing her job
While former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was still in the running for the White House, U.S. Secret Service Agent Kerry O’Grady had this to say about doing her job if Trump occupied the Oval Office.
“As a public servant for nearly 23 years, I struggle not to violate the Hatch Act,” O’Grady posted on her Facebook page last year. “So, I keep quiet and skirt the median. To do otherwise can be a criminal offense for those in my position. Despite the fact that I am expected to take a bullet for both sides.”
Pledging allegiance to Clinton and her disloyalty to Trump, the “double” agent publicly admitted and bragged that she would break her vow of service.
“But this world has changed and I have changed,” the feminist Democrat continued. “And I would take jail time over a bullet or an endorsement for what I believe to be disaster to this country and the strong and amazing women and minorities who reside here. Hatch Act be damned. I am with Her [Hillary].”
As another statement of defiance, O’Grady made a post when Trump was inaugurated on January 20, when she replaced her Facebook profile photo with an image of Princess Leia from Star Wars. Underneath, she emblazoned the words, “A woman’s place is in the resistance” – meaning those opposing Trump.
Despite being more than half a year after an investigation on O’Grady was launched, American taxpayers are still funding her salary.
“O'Grady … was removed from her position as head of the Secret Service's Denver district in March amid an investigation into her pre-election Facebook comments about Trump,” the Free Beacon reported. “O'Grady remains on paid administrative leave and retains her security clearance six months after the agency first started looking into the allegations of misconduct against her.”
Many are confounded as to why the rogue government employee still has access to sensitive agency facilities.
“Additionally, senior managers have never placed O'Grady on a ‘Do Not Admit’ list – an agency-wide notification that an employee whose conduct is under investigation is not allowed access to any Secret Service offices or resources, according to two former agents,” the Free Beacon’s Susan Crabtree informed. “Despite the obvious efforts to protect the agency from employees accused of serious misconduct that could pose a security threat, the sources describe the ‘Do Not Admit’ list also as a ‘shaming device’ and an ‘intimidation tool’ that senior managers have inconsistently used in recent years against employees facing less-serious allegations of misconduct.”
Slap on the wrist?
It is believed that O’Grady will stay on the payroll of the federal government, which is expected to shift her position to another high-security division.
“Several sources inside the Secret Service community fear O’Grady will keep her employment, and merely be shuffled to another division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” WND reported.
Outraged at the federal government’s lack of action on the matter, family members launched an online petition to persuade Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy to stop sitting on the issue and oust O’Grady.
“[We are calling on the Secret Service Agency to] act now and terminate [Special Agent in Charge] Kerry O’Grady from the duties she boldly stated she will not perform,” the petition reads. “This petition is to make known the sincere concerns that many special agents’ wives, loved ones and American citizens have with the written statements made by Kerry O’Grady regarding her unwillingness to conduct herself in a professional manner and to uphold the oath she willingly took 23 years ago.”
It argued that she should not be allowed to continue a duty she has blatantly refused to perform.
“Ms. O’Grady stated she will not defend our democracy,” the petition’s statement continued. “Her statements show an incredible lack of judgment that cannot be tolerated so close to the heart of our government. The men and women of the U.S. Secret Service are to conduct themselves above reproach, in a constant professional manner to complete the mission, regardless of who the protectee is or their politics. Ms. O’Grady has publicly aligned herself with the worst in our society – those who wish to bring harm on our leaders.”
Justifying not doing her job?
Earlier this year, O’Grady attempted to explain her refusal to perform her job – a job she swore to conduct … regardless of political persuasion.
"I serve this country with pride and I proudly diligently and fiercely protect and support the institutions and pillars of our republic established by the very same document that allows my free expression,” she said in a statement issued on January 24, according the Washington Examiner. “I do so with every fiber of my being for the very reason that those institutions are in place to guarantee my right and the rights of all our citizens to voice and express our opinions and beliefs, even when, and especially when, those values may be contrary to those of the party in power. My devotion to mission and country is only strengthened by the fact that the founders recognize the value of dissent and the freedom to assemble and voice those opposing convictions.”
She then attempted to color Trump as a hostile dictator.
"They enshrine those rights for future generations so we avoid the path of authoritarian regimes that shackle their people with fear," she added, before answering whether she could do her job with such opposition to Trump. "I hope you understand that's an emphatic no, and I need to make sure that's resoundingly clear and just reinforces that this job needs to [be] done well."
Why pay her for a job she doesn’t do?
The preferential treatment given to O’Grady was detailed by a partner of Bigley Ranish – a firm that specializes in security clearance denials. He maintained that the Secret Service routinely puts employees accused of wrongdoing on unpaid leave while the allegations are probed.
"All the clients I have are on unpaid administrative leave," Bigley told the Free Beacon. "Then they have to sit around for a year cooling their heels before anything is proven. It's very punitive."
He said one of his clients received no pay for three years – the period of time it took the Secret Service and the DHS Inspector General to investigate the charges and counter charges in the case.
"His life has completely imploded," Bigley explained, noting that he lost everything – his home and his life savings – while he awaits a final verdict.
Many others have been give the same fate for lesser misconduct than O’Grady, and Bigley stressed that Secret Service officials determining whether to revoke security clearances have extremely uneven standards.
"It's always amazing to me how some [disciplinary] issues are considered security-related and some aren’t,” Bigley concluded. “The only difference seems to be the person involved [and how well-connected they are to top agency officials]. It doesn’t seem like there is any continuity."
Firing a GS employee isn’t as easy as one might think. There may be a union involved. Perhaps.
Many high security jobs are not (by law) unionized. If the SS agent is unionized there if a litany of hoops that must be negotiated to get to the end state. There also may be severance negotiations etc... involved...
This was treason. The superiors, like those who
still protect Hasan, have chosen the Enemies of the USA
over the US Constitution and their Oath.
She should at least be assigned to anti-counterfeiting detail in Nome, Alaska.
Just another member of the swamp not drained. Add Andrew McCabe, all the Obama appointees in the Executive Branch and you have still a very full swamp with no hint of it being drained.
“You’re fired” can’t come quick enough!
When DJT left the stage I was one of the first people at the exit because I had a long drive home.The Secret Service had blocked the exits (SOP,I was told) so that DJT could have a clean "getaway".
I found myself waiting only a couple of feet from a Secret Service agent (coat,tie,small earpiece).I caught his attention and asked him if agents were allowed to choose who they protected.He said no.I then asked him if the stories about Hillary abusing agents were true.He didn't say a word,didn't nod,or shake,his head...but he did give a little grin.
IMO that grin was *absolutely* his way of saying "yes"...in a way that wouldn't get him fired.
One of my assignments when I was still active duty had me working with a number of former WHCA (White House Communications Agency) folks. First hand witnesses tell me that every one of the stories told about Killary and Algore were 100% true (phones thrown across rooms, order to not look at or speak to Killary, etc., etc.)
To a person, the perspective I got from them was that Bill was a nice guy (leaving aside the perpetual horniness) and Tipper Gore was nice, the remainder of the political crowd there were scary.
Go back and read the article. She is in Denver. Drug test her.
I hunted for a while with a guy that had just retired from the Army Signals. His last duty station was the Whitehouse. He wouldn’t talk about it except to say, “everything you hear is true...”. This was in the mid 90s.
Small potato(e)s. Not worth the opening it would give the left for another week’s news cycle.
Don’t worry, Sessions is right on it, that is if he is not recusing himself on this one too.
USSS director Randolph Alles needs to immediately fire this Demonicrat defective agent if he doesn’t want people to start to demand that he stand in an unemployment line for demonstrating incompetence.
No hint of the swamp being drained... In the interest of bandwidth and brevity, I provide only a smattering of the swamp clearing that has occurred on President Trump watch.
Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions asked Friday for the resignations of dozens of politically appointed U.S. attorneys held over from the Obama administration, the Justice Department said.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is cleaning house at the State Department, according to a report.
Staffers in the offices of deputy secretary of state for management and resources as well as counselor were shown the door Thursday, according to CBS News.
Many of those let go were on the building’s seventh floor — top-floor bigs — a symbolically important sign to the rest of the diplomatic corps that their new boss has different priorities than the last one.
http://nypost.com/2017/02/17/rex-tillerson-fires-top-officials-at-state-department/
President Donald Trump’s administration has reportedly fired an unprecedented number of high-level State Department employees in a major shakeup at the federal agency.
“It’s the single biggest simultaneous departure of institutional memory that anyone can remember, and that’s incredibly difficult to replicate,” David Wade, who served as State Department chief of staff under Secretary of State John Kerry, told the Washington Post, which first broke the story.
“Department expertise in security, management, administrative and consular positions in particular are very difficult to replicate and particularly difficult to find in the private sector,” he added.
Both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department are overhauling a slew of outside advisory boards that inform how their agencies assess the science underpinning federal policies, the first step in a broader effort by Republicans to change the way the federal government evaluates the scientific basis for its regulations.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt decided to replace half of the members on one of its key scientific review boards, while Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is “reviewing the charter and charge” of more than 200 advisory boards, committees and other entities both within and outside his department. EPA and Interior officials began informing current members of the move Friday, and notifications continued over the weekend.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/07/epa-dismisses-half-of-its-scientific-advisers-on-key-board-citing-clean-break-with-obama-administration/?utm_term=.f95e3c223cbf
Interior Dept. announces plans to offer buyouts
The Department of Interior has joined the Environmental Protection Agency and State Department in announcing plans to offer separation incentives as part of efforts to reduce its workforce.
By FederalSoup Staff
May 25, 2017
The Department of Interior has joined the Environmental Protection Agency and State Department in announcing plans to offer separation incentives as part of efforts to reduce its workforce, Government Executive reports.
According to the report, the agency is planning to eliminate more than 6 percent of its workforce—more than 4,000 employees—in fiscal 2018.
The agency will do so with a combination of attrition and separation incentives, and might also consider other actions depending on attrition rates and acceptance of the incentives, the report notes.
Trump Replaces Acting Director of Immigration Enforcement
by Alex Johnson
President Donald Trump replaced the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday night, shortly after he fired the acting attorney general, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed.
Unlike the firing of Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, the replacement of Acting ICE Director Daniel Ragsdale came with no explanation. Ragsdale was replaced by Thomas Homan, ICE’s executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations since 2013.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-replaces-acting-director-immigration-enforcement-n714491
How about guarding the basement at the White House. the midnight to 7 AM shift 5 days a week.
Don’t forget Juneau...the rain and gray weather AND the limited access would be a tough nut.
Another agenda over country swamp rat.
She should be cleaning toilets in the White House.
Firing a GS employee isn’t as easy as one might think.
***********
That is absolutely true. There is also a reluctance and/or fear about firing anyone out of a concern about what they or their sympathetic co-workers might know or say about those in power (i.e., they might blow the whistle on the managers). Self-preservation makes managers inclined to quietly sweep problems like this under the rug.
The bureaucracy’s number one job is to protect itself.
There may be hoops to finally fire, but there aren’t really any to remove security clearance and pay while the investigation is going on. That should especially be the case when the individual blatently states she will not to her job.
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