The U.S. Secret Service announced Thursday it placed a member of Vice President JD Vance’s security detail on administrative leave and confirmed that person is being investigated for allegedly leaking information.
“A member of the Vice Presidential Protective Division is the subject of an administrative investigation, and potential criminal inquiry, involving allegations of compromising operational and information security,” Anthony Guglielmi, the U.S. Secret Service’s chief of communications, said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times on Thursday.
The agency said it would not provide further details related to the incident, but stressed that “one principle is unequivocal: any conduct that potentially threatens the safety of a protectee will not be tolerated.” The Secret Service did not identify the agent or what criminal charges the individual may face.
Earlier on Thursday, media outlets reported on the investigation into the leaks. A week earlier, news outlet MS NOW published a story about alleged frustrations among Secret Service agents on Vance’s detail, citing anonymous sources.
Vance’s office last week responded to claims published in the story by telling media outlets that “the Vances are grateful to the men and women of the U.S. Secret Service who serve our country with distinction.”
“While protecting a Vice President with a large policy portfolio and a young and growing family presents a unique challenge, agents of the Secret Service do so with excellence every day,” the statement said.
A Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement to MS NOW that agents “understand the commitment required: long hours, frequent travel, and the need for constant flexibility” when they signed up for the job.
The investigation comes as U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran said at an event on Wednesday that the security environment his agency is currently facing is challenging.
“I think just generally speaking, we are in a heightened level … of a threat environment right now,” Curran said, adding that “it’s no secret.”
“There are things happening around the globe … that are always going to impact … how we move,” Curran said. “But we’re always going to look at the threat environment and where we’re going and just what’s happening at the moment.”
Since 2024, President Donald Trump has faced at least three assassination attempts, including one in July 2024 at a Pennsylvania campaign rally, one that occurred two months after that incident at his Florida golf course, and another at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington in April 2026.
The Department of Justice also arrested multiple individuals across the United States in June over an alleged plot to launch a drone-based attack against UFC Freedom 250 held at the White House on June 14 that both Trump and Vance had attended.
This month, Vance and second lady Usha Vance welcomed their fourth child, a boy, the first child to be born to a sitting vice president in more than 150 years.
In recent months, Vance has been busy with a number of White House assignments, including heading an anti-fraud task force, handling previous peace negotiations with Iran that later broke down, and giving public addresses. About a month ago, he filled in for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a news briefing.
The White House did not immediately respond to an Epoch Times request for comment.
