Secret Service officials placed on leave as leak probe expands, sources say
Key Takeaways
- •Three Secret Service officials were placed on administrative leave while investigators examined possible misconduct involving leaks to the media.
- •CNN reported that one of the suspended officials was communications chief Anthony Guglielmi, and the other two worked in the same communications office.
- •According to CNN, all three officials lost their security clearances after being taken off the job.
- •A Secret Service spokesperson said the matter is being reviewed by the Office of Professional Responsibility and declined further comment.
- •The suspensions come amid broader Trump administration efforts to identify sources of unauthorized disclosures.
Three U.S. Secret Service officials were escorted from their offices and placed on leave amid an investigation into leaks of classified information.
In a Tuesday post on X, journalist Susan Crabtree said two anonymous sources told her the three officials were removed from the office and made “do not admits” as part of a criminal investigation into leaks to the media.
“It’s unclear if the leaks to the media pertained to the controversy over President Trump’s secret evacuation from Turkey because of intelligence about a surface-to-air missile threat to Air Force One from Iran,” Crabtree wrote.
The suspensions add to a broader effort by the Trump administration to identify the source of unauthorized disclosures, an issue that has drawn increased attention because leaks can expose sensitive operational details even when officials do not confirm the underlying material. Earlier this year, the Justice Department subpoenaed New York Times journalists who reported on security problems involving Trump’s Qatari jet. It also targeted a Times freelancer in an effort to identify sources for a story about a failed top-secret mission in North Korea. Federal agents also seized digital devices from Max Blumenthal while he was returning from Iran.
The suspensions came after a Secret Service agent was placed on leave and faced a potential criminal inquiry for allegedly revealing unusually demanding requests by Vice President JD Vance.
According to CNN reporting on Tuesday, one of the three officials placed on leave was the agency’s communications chief, Anthony Guglielmi. The other two officials also work in the Secret Service communications office. CNN reported that all three lost their security clearances.
Crabtree reported that the FBI and CIA are involved in the investigations and confirmed that one of the suspended officials is Guglielmi. CNN said the three officials were placed on leave in connection with an investigation into misconduct.
“Three non-law enforcement personnel at the U.S. Secret Service have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into potential misconduct,” an agency spokesperson said in a statement to CNN on Tuesday. “Per policy, this incident is being investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility. We are unable to comment further at this time.”
