A Secret Service agent who had traveled to Israel ahead of President Joe Biden’s arrival in the country Wednesday was briefly detained and sent back to the U.S. following an alleged “physical encounter” with a woman.
Israeli police detained and questioned the agent before they released him without any charges, according to the Secret Service. The agent was then sent back to the U.S., and his access to Secret Service information was suspended.
“In accordance with agency protocol, his access to Secret Service systems and facilities was suspended pending further investigation,” a Secret Service spokesperson said, according to NBC News.
The alleged altercation occurred Monday night when multiple Secret Service personnel were returning to their hotel from dinner. A woman who got into an altercation with one of the employees claims she was physically assaulted, according to a person with knowledge of the incident, as NBC News reported.
Three sources told CBS News that a woman at a Jerusalem bar interacted with the Secret Service agent before the two got into an argument, and the agent shoved the woman. Even though the woman was reportedly not injured, she called Israeli police and reported the Secret Service employee.
“We hold all employees to the highest professional standards and you are seeing the results of our strong culture of accountability,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
In May, two Secret Service employees were “shipped back to the US from South Korea this week following an alcohol-fueled confrontation with a local cab driver ahead of President Biden’s trip to the country”, according to the New York Post.
More from the Post:
ABC News reported Friday that an agent and an armed physical security specialist assigned to go to Seoul to help prepare for Biden’s visit went out to dinner on a recent evening and hit multiple bars.
Later that night, the pair reportedly became intoxicated and the agent got into a heated argument with the cabbie.
Police were eventually called to the scene, though only one of the two workers was reportedly investigated in relation to the incident. Neither of the Secret Service employees was detained, arrested or criminally charged.
The incident took place outside the hotel where Biden will be staying in Seoul, according to NBC News.
This is an excerpt from The Daily Wire.
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