Oh Joe Biden Doesn't Trust The Secret Service? NO SH*T?

It's not like he doesn't have good reason.

The Secret Service is tasked with ensuring no one Garfields the president, but Joe Biden isn't entirely sure he can trust them. He's not simply paranoid. There was the "mysterious" deletion of Secret Service texts from January 6, 2021, a day that was somewhat important. It appears the Secret Service might've also known well in advance that Donald Trump summoning a mob to the Capitol when the electoral votes were counted could potentially end in violence. Then there was the attempted coverup of a "mechanical failure" (i.e. bad driving) involving Vice President Kamala Harris's SUV. 

One other small issue: According to a book by Washington Post investigative reporter Carol Leonnig, many members of Trump's detail were "very, very close" to the insurrectionist-in-chief, perhaps in a slightly treasonous sense.

Leonnig told Rachel Maddow, "There was a very large contingent of Donald Trump's detail, who were personally cheering for Biden to fail, and some of them even took to their personal media accounts to cheer on the insurrection and the individuals riding up to the Capitol as patriots ... That is problematic."

Indeed. Former Secret Service assistant director Anthony Ornato was described as almost fanatically "pro-Trump." Both Ornato and Robert Engel, the head of Trump's detail, were reportedly willing to refute Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony regarding Trump's freakout in the presidential limo — until it was time to actually testify under oath.

PREVIOUSLY:

 Secret Service Tries To Distract From Lies About Jan 6 With Lies About Kamala Motorcade Accident 

 Secret Service Says It's Very Cool, Very Legal For Agents To Delete All Their Texts 

 Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas Texts As Secret Service Shouts 'NOTHING TO SEE HERE!' 

The White House isn't a Hollywood studio or TV network. Biden can't just fire the old guard and replace them with his own people. Author Chris Whipple writes in his book The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden's White House that Biden won't speak freely around agents based on the collective response to January 6. He's concerned there's still way too much support for the mad MAGA king.

Whipple claims that Biden's faith in the Secret Service further deteriorated after the incident when his dog, Major, allegedly bit a Secret Service agent. The president doesn't deny Major was a bad dog, but he "wasn't buying the details," according to Whipple's book. The agent was supposedly bitten on the second floor of the White House, and Biden insists, "Look, the Secret Service are never up here. It didn't happen [that way.]"

If Biden suspects the Secret Service might've tried to frame his dog, he probably believes they're capable of anything.

Whipple writes that Biden's attitude toward the Secret Service has changed since he was Barack Obama's vice president. The Trump era has eroded our trust in most US institutions. Biden is probably the first president to take office after an attempted coup. At least during the Civil War, everyone wore distinctive uniforms. Biden has no way of knowing how many of the MAGA faithful are embedded in the White House, No Way Out -style. This is especially relevant if Trump runs again and likely stages yet another coup. Biden would need to have people assigned to his security who he could actually, you know, trust.

Whipple claims to have interviewed "Biden, his chief of staff Ron Klain, and others." The Independent , which broke this story, reached out to the White House for comment, and a spokesperson said Whipple "did not give us a chance to verify the materials that are attributed here." That's obviously not a denial.

[ Business Insider / Independent ]

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