XPost: alt.politics.obama, alt.politics.guns, alt.law-enforcement.lethal-force   
   XPost: sac.general   
   From: jethro@boom.com   
      
   A Denver-based Secret Service agent’s assertion that she would   
   rather go to jail than take a bullet for President Trump left   
   one veteran of the commander-in-chief’s vaunted security detail   
   stunned.   
      
   Gary Byrne, who guarded President Clinton and the Oval Office   
   during a 12-year stint with the Secret Service, told Fox News   
   Special Agent Kerry O’Grady’s revelation on Facebook was   
   astonishing.   
      
   “It is unheard of and unbelievable that someone at her level   
   would comment publicly on being unwilling to protect the   
   president,” said Byrne, author of “Crisis of Character,” a book   
   that came out during the presidential campaign that was highly   
   critical of Hillary Clinton. “Everyone has their own personal   
   political opinions, but this job is not personal. You take an   
   oath to the country, not the person. You are protecting the   
   office, and what makes the country great.”   
      
   The Secret Service is reportedly "taking appropriate action"   
   after news broke that O’Grady had made the comments in an   
   October Facebook post. The agency did not say if O’Grady, who is   
   in charge of the Denver office, could be disciplined or even   
   fired, but her comments may be in violation of The Hatch Act.   
   That 1939 law bars certain federal employees from engaging in   
   political activity to promote fairness and nonpartisanship   
   within the workplace. The Secret Service is among the agencies   
   affected by the Hatch Act.   
      
   "As a public servant for nearly 23 years, I struggle not to   
   violate the Hatch Act,” O’Grady wrote. “So I keep quiet and   
   skirt the median. To do otherwise can be a criminal offense for   
   those in my position. Despite the fact that I am expected to   
   take a bullet for both sides. But this world has changed and I   
   have changed. 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.   
   Hatch Act be damned. I am with Her."   
      
   O'Grady told the Washington Examiner that she took down the   
   posts after two or three days and that she would protect the   
   president.   
      
   "It was an internal struggle for me but as soon as I put it up,   
   I thought it was not the sentiment that I needed to share   
   because I care very deeply about the mission," she said.   
      
   Byrne said simply retracting the statement is not enough.   
      
   “At her level, she is special agent in charge of Denver, she has   
   a couple hundred people working under her including agents,   
   technicians, and officers,” he said. “Her job is to run the   
   office, but to provide the manpower if the President comes to   
   Colorado.   
      
    If she made these comments just to her friends, that is   
   personal. But if you state that publicly, like she did on   
   Facebook, she should be removed from the position.   
      
   “I cannot tell you how bad that is,” he added.   
      
   http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/25/secret-service-vet-   
   shocked-at-agents-claim-wont-take-bullet-for-trump.html   
       
      
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