CREW requests records on Secret Service coronavirus cases

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump and Vice President Pence have continued to hold large-scale rallies and events in contradiction with public health guidelines. Multiple news outlets have indicated that this has exposed numerous Secret Service agents to the disease, even forcing some agents to self-isolate after large rallies. The public deserves to know just how much the administration is putting agents’ lives at risk, all on the taxpayers’ dime.

CREW has requested Secret Service records indicating the number of active Secret Service employees who have tested positive for COVID-19. 

Trump’s insistence on traveling goes directly against government imposed travel guidance meant to contain the spread of the coronavirus. For Secret Service agents, the risk of exposure is inherently increased since doing security means they are unable to socially distance or take as many precautions, especially when traveling. The agency has been understaffed and stretched thin, especially as the Trump family has taken twelve times as many protected trips as the Obama family in a comparable timeframe. The Department of Homeland Security, under which the Secret Service is housed, has had serious problems with coronavirus spread in its other divisions, especially in taxpayer funded detention centers. Between the taxpayer dollars and human cost, it’s clear that the bill for this pandemic will only climb unless significant changes are made. Until then, the public deserves to know to what extent the president is putting Secret Service agents lives’ at unnecessary risk.