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News > U.S.

Trump Removes US Secret Service Director

  • U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph Alles, Washington, U.S. March 7, 2019.

    U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph Alles, Washington, U.S. March 7, 2019. | Photo: Reuters

Published 8 April 2019
Opinion

The president of the United States Donald Trump fired secret service director Randolph "Tex" Alles. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is going through "a near-systematic purge," one official said.

Donald Trump announced on Monday the removal from his position of Randolph "Tex" Alles, the secret service director of the United States. An anonymous official described this action as "a near-systematic purge" at the DHS. 

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The White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Alles had "done a great job at the agency over the last two years, and the president is thankful for his over 40 years of service to the country. Mr. Alles will be leaving shortly and President Trump has selected James M Murray, a career member of the [Secret Service], to take over as director beginning in May."

"No doubt you have seen media reports regarding my ‘firing.’ I assure you that this is not the case, and in fact was told weeks ago by the administration that transitions in leadership should be expected across the Department of Homeland Security," Alles said in a message to Secret Service agents.

"The president has directed an orderly transition in leadership for this agency and I intend to abide by that direction," Alles said.

The agency came under scrutiny last week after a Chinese woman carrying electronic devices was charged with bluffing her way through security checks at Trump's private club in Florida. But officials said that the departure is unrelated to this event, according to Al Jazeera.

Nevertheless, Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, called for Alles to testify before Congress "as soon as possible about the potential security vulnerabilities at Mar-a-Lago ... and other counterintelligence and national security threats."

The president’s announcement regarding Alles position came a day after homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was forced to resign.

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