Vice President JD Vance and the Secret Service were sent scrambling after an agent assigned to his security detail reportedly spilled sensitive security information to a Tinder date who turned out to be an undercover reporter.
According to The Daily Beast, "The agent, Tomas Escotto, was placed on administrative leave on Wednesday after a 14-minute undercover video published by reporter James O’Keefe showed the agent casually divulging details about the Vice President’s travel plans and internal shift operations. O’Keefe said the woman Escotto met through the dating app Tinder in October was working undercover for O’Keefe Media Group."
During that date, per the report, "Escotto allegedly shared information that the Secret Service explicitly bars agents from disclosing — including details about how many agents are assigned to protect the vice president and how they position themselves during travel."
Escotto even acknowledged to the reporter in text messages that giving out this information was against federal policy, saying, “I sign[ed] paperwork ... if i don’t have to give out information, I never do, otherwise I get in trouble.”
U.S. Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn confirmed to The Beast that Escotto’s security clearance was revoked and he was suspended from accessing secure facilities and systems pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
“The U.S. Secret Service has no tolerance for any behavior that could potentially compromise the safety, privacy, or trust of our protectees,” Quinn said in a statement to the outlet.
O'Keefe, a longtime right-wing activist, is best known for founding Project Veritas, a controversial group that plants undercover reporters with government officials or liberal nonprofits or media groups, and tries to get them to make compromising or embarrassing statements.
He parted ways with that group in 2023, with some reports suggesting he was ousted after subordinates alleged financial misconduct, which he denied.
