Another potential sore for the Secret Service, who have had three high-profile scandals in as many years.
"Top officials of the secret service ordered officers who the Post says are part of a squad that patrols the perimeter of the White House were ordered to leave their post and drive to southern Maryland." (Via CBS)
The officers were repeatedly sent to check on the Secret Service Director's assistant, Lisa Chopey, who was about an hour away from the White House in La Plata, Maryland. (Via Google Earth)
Chopey and her neighbor reportedly had a falling out, and Mark Sullivan, the Secret Service director at the time, was concerned Chopey was being harassed by her neighbors. (Via MSNBC)
Sullivan, who has since left the secret service, said in a statement, "The U.S. Secret Service always has taken seriously threats made against employees and responds as appropriate." (Via Washington Post)
No one denies that officers were sent to Maryland to check on Chopey but for how long and just how frequent the visits occurred is a point of contention.
The Washington Post, which broke the story, claims, "two agents were sent twice a day" and that the visits continued under the name "Operation Moonlight" for more than two months over the summer of 2011.
"It was miserable to live there." Brenda Allen who lived on the property that was being watched, says she tried to ask the unmarked car outside of her house what was going on but the car sped off.
The Secret Service denies these visits took place for such a long period of time. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan told CNN, "These checks were conducted over a holiday weekend and ended once the employee was able to contact the local court"
Donavan went on to say that the unit used to check on Chopey is not part of the White House's protective detail. Donavan has refused to release the Secret Service file on "Operation Moonlight."
