DENVER – The head of the U.S. Secret Service’s Denver district is under fire for an October Facebook post in which she said she would not “take a bullet” for Donald Trump.
The post was made by Kerry O’Grady, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Denver district. It was made before Trump won the presidency and does not specifically mention him by name, but came to light in a story published Tuesday by the Washington Examiner.
By the time the post was made, the presidential field had been narrowed down to Trump, Hillary Clinton, Jill Stein and Gary Johnson.
In her position, she is in charge of coordinating advance teams for presidential trips to the area.
“Despite the fact that I am expected to take a bullet for both sides…this world has changed and I have changed,” O’Grady wrote, in part, in the post, which has since been deleted. “And I would take jail time over a bullet or an endorsement for what I believe to be disaster to this country and the strong and amazing women and minorities who reside here.”
She also wrote that she was in a “struggle to not violate the Hatch Act,” and wrote, “Hatch Act be damned. I am with her.”
The Hatch Act prohibits some executive branch employees, including Secret Service agents, from engaging in political activity or speech for a certain candidate or cause on social media.
The Examiner reports there has been at least one official complaint levied against her speech. Attempts to reach O’Grady for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful. But she told the Examiner repeatedly that she would perform her duties and that she was proud to serve the office of the president.
The U.S. Secret Service told the Examiner it was “aware of the postings” and “looking into the matter.”
