Category: James o’keefe
Biden-voting Secret Service agent stripped of security clearance after spilling beans to undercover reporter
The U.S. Secret Service has placed an agent assigned to Vice President JD Vance’s protective detail on administrative leave after he allegedly divulged sensitive security secrets to an undercover female reporter.
In footage published on Tuesday by investigative journalist James O’Keefe, USSS agent Tomas Escotto appears to share various specifics regarding Vance’s security detail with the reporter as well as photos revealing the methods used to transport the vice president.
‘When one person falls short, it places an added burden on colleagues who are left to rebuild trust.’
“What we uncovered is troubling,” said O’Keefe, who indicated that the engagements took place in the wake of the attempted break-in at Vance’s Cincinnati home. “We hope that bringing this to light strengthens security and helps prevent future vulnerabilities in our government.”
The video and text messages published by O’Keefe appear to show that Escotto, a self-identified Biden voter, provided the reporter with:
- real-time locations of the vice president;
- insights into Vance’s future travel plans;
- the particulars of how far ahead and behind agents walk in relation to Vance;
- the security detail’s shift schedule;
- photographs taken on duty containing location metadata; and
- photographs providing insights into how the vice president’s vehicle is secured and stored for international travel.
After indicating in the footage that he only received his citizenship in 2018, Escotto criticizes the Trump administration’s immigration policies, stating, “They’re deploying tactics that shouldn’t be deployed.”
Al Drago-Pool/Getty Image
O’Keefe noted that ahead of publishing the video, his team coordinated with the USSS, redacting sensitive operational details at their request.
Blaze News has reached out to Vance’s office for comment.
Deputy Secret Service Director Matthew Quinn confirmed in a statement to O’Keefe that the incident is under investigation and “the employee involved has been placed on administrative leave with his clearance suspended and access to agency facilities and systems revoked.”
The USSS is now also requiring all personnel to retake the agency’s anti-espionage training “in order to ensure employees are aware of the threats posed by individuals aiming to exploit agency employees for information about our protective operations.”
Quinn said in a memo to USSS employees that was obtained by O’Keefe, “Over the past several months, an agency employee was deliberately targeted and manipulated by a citizen-journalism media organization that misrepresented itself in an effort to get close to the employee and expose sensitive information. This is the second time in less than a year that our personnel have been subjected to this same deceptive tactic.”
“When one person falls short, it places an added burden on colleagues who are left to rebuild trust that each of us works hard every day to earn and protect,” added Quinn.
Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet was among those who emphasized the gravity of O’Keefe’s damning exposé, stating, “This is one of the most disturbing videos I’ve seen in some time. Those tasked with protecting the president, VP, and their families should be a top national priority.”
“That a Secret Service agent could be leaking sensitive information and endangering their lives is a national security threat of the highest importance,” added Kolvet.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, noted, “The Secret Service is a dangerous mess.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Georgetown prof starts running after realizing he’s talking to James O’Keefe — and his racial ‘slurs’ are on camera
Jonathan Franklin, a former race and identity correspondent for National Public Radio who now apparently serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, recently went into panic-mode after realizing he had made a series of damning remarks to investigative journalist James O’Keefe on hidden camera.
In the footage published on Wednesday by the O’Keefe Media Group, Franklin — whose personal website is now password-protected, Instagram profile has been set to private, and page on the Georgetown University was largely scrubbed — appears to call various black conservatives a “coon,” including Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Candace Owens, and U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas Herschel Walker.
‘Well, the thing is that I actually am James O’Keefe.’
When pressed by O’Keefe on why he hasn’t shared such views publicly, Franklin, who is set to teach a journalism course on sourcing and interviews, appears to say, “I’d have to stop being a journalist for me to say what I really want to say.”
At one point in his conversation with O’Keefe — whom he evidently did not recognize on account of a pair of glasses — Franklin appears to say, “I work with a bunch of stupid white people.”
Franklin declined to comment on the situation involving the video published by O’Keefe, a representative told Blaze News.
RELATED: University of Minnesota faces backlash over project that seeks to cure the ‘Whiteness Pandemic’
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Georgetown University did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.
After hearing enough racially charged rhetoric, O’Keefe asks Franklin in the video what he thinks about James O’Keefe.
Franklin answers, “I’ve heard from people he’s an a**h**e.”
“Well, he does, like, the undercover stuff and, like, exposes people, you know?” says O’Keefe. “He exposes people, you know, telling people, like, what they really think.”
“There’s a way to do that sort of watchdog, gotcha, ambush journalism but doing in a way that doesn’t disrespect the person that you’re trying to catch or yourself as a reporter,” says Franklin.
O’Keefe then takes off his glasses, points to the hidden camera, and announces to Franklin, “Well, the thing is that I actually am James O’Keefe.”
“No, you’re not,” responds Franklin.
Upon realizing the man he’d been talking to is in fact James O’Keefe, Franklin gets up and begins to run away. Outside the building, Franklin can be seen falling to the ground. After asking whether the adjunct was all right, O’Keefe tries asking him clarifying questions about his apparent “coon” comments, to which Franklin responds, “I will sue.”
O’Keefe and his team subsequently took Franklin to a pharmacy to get him Band-Aids for the cuts he sustained in his tumble. After cooling off, Franklin appeared to confirm to O’Keefe on camera that while he did work for NPR, he had lied during their earlier conversation about working for CBS News.
When later discussing the encounter, O’Keefe questioned whether an individual who allegedly harbors racist views and would share them with a stranger should be teaching journalism classes at an institution like Georgetown University.
“That type of racism is not just his personal opinion,” said O’Keefe. “It is a bias about a group of people that directly affects fairness, credibility and judgment. Why? Because he’s a professor who is using these slurs. He is revealing a framework that shapes how he interprets information.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
