News
October 1, 2020

The Secret Service Said It Had No Assessments of Presidential Travel’s Impact on Agents

The U.S. Secret Service told us in August that it had no records responsive to our request.

In August, the Washington Post reported that dozens of Secret Service agents who had been working to keep President Donald Trump and Vice President Michael Pence safe at public events have contracted Covid-19. That same month, in a response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the U.S. Secret Service told American Oversight that it had no records or reports tracking the effect of Trump’s and Pence’s travel on the spread of the coronavirus among officers. 

In July, we had asked the Secret Service for information detailing their mitigation of coronavirus, including any assessments, reports, or analyses regarding any projected or actual effects of travel by the president and the vice president on the spread of the coronavirus among Secret Service officers from March onward. These trips have had clear impacts: When the president flew with the Secret Service to Florida in July, the trip led to at least one agent testing positive and at least five agents facing possible infection from exposure. 

As Secret Service agents have gotten sick, the president has continued to travel the country, holding large events from Wisconsin to the White House, many of which are lacking coronavirus precautions and where few attendees have worn masks. Whether the Secret Service has been analyzing how this travel is impacting its officers and taking precautions to protect them is of great public concern.