Four US Secret Service agents, including members of the US President Joe Biden’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’ security details got suspended after allegedly being bribed by two individuals charged with impersonating federal officers, Yahoo News reports.
The two suspects, US citizens named Arian Taherzadeh and Haider Ali, were detained on Wednesday following an FBI raid on the apartment building they were staying at.
The duo allegedly claimed that they were working for the Department of Homeland Security on a task force investigating gangs and violence connected to the 6 January 2021 US Capitol riot.
Federal prosecutors have since suggested that the suspects had been compromising Secret Service agents assigned to "top security missions", as the media outlet put it, and "accused them of trying to 'ingratiate themselves' with agents of federal agencies."
The gifts the suspects allegedly tried to give to Secret Service agents reportedly included a $2,000 assault rifle, a television, phones, surveillance systems and rent-free apartments at the building where they lived.
Out of the four suspended Secret Service agents, one was assigned to First Lady Jill Biden’s detail, one was a member of US President Joe Biden’s protective detail, one was assigned to secure US Vice President Kamala Harris’ home, and one was working at the White House in the uniformed division, the media outlet adds.
"All personnel involved in this matter are on administrative leave and are restricted from accessing Secret Service facilities, equipment, and systems," the Secret Service said in a statement regarding the matter.
The agency also said that it was cooperating with the "ongoing investigation".