The U.S. Secret Service is facing new allegations of misconduct after a special agent was accused of sexually assaulting a female staffer from Kamala Harris’s campaign.

According to four sources from the Secret Service community, the incident took place during a trip to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the agency was conducting advance security work for a potential Harris campaign event that did not occur.

The alleged assault happened after several Secret Service agents and Harris staffers had dinner and drinks at a local restaurant.

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The group later returned to the staffer’s hotel room, where the agent in question reportedly forced himself on the woman, groping her in front of witnesses.

One source revealed that the agent had become so intoxicated that his coworkers removed him from his hotel room and left him passed out in the hallway, where photos of him were taken.

After the incident was reported, top Secret Service officials summoned the agent to Washington, D.C., to meet with investigators from the agency’s Inspections Division, which handles misconduct investigations.

In response to the situation, a Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement to Real Clear Politics, “The U.S. Secret Service Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating a misconduct allegation involving an employee.

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The Secret Service holds its personnel to the highest standards. The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.”

The Office of the Vice President also issued a statement, emphasizing the importance of staff safety: “The Office of the Vice President takes the safety of staff seriously. We have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct. Senior OVP officials were alerted by the USSS about an incident involving an agent and informed that USSS initiated an investigation. The Office of the Vice President will not be releasing further information.”

The incident involving the Secret Service agent adds to a series of recent challenges for the agency, including intense scrutiny over its ability to protect high-profile political figures.

In July, former President Donald Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania.

A gunman fired at Trump and the crowd, killing one attendee and wounding two others before a Secret Service sniper neutralized the shooter.

A report released by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday found multiple failures by the Secret Service in handling security at Trump’s rally.

The 94-page interim report revealed that the agency’s planning and security roles lacked clear responsibility, and coordination with state and local law enforcement was insufficient.

The report, based on a review of 2,800 pages of documents and 12 interviews with Secret Service personnel, highlighted failures in securing the building from which the shooter opened fire.

The committee noted that these lapses were “entirely foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the assassination attempt.”

Senator Richard Blumenthal, chairman of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said, “Every single one of those failures was preventable, and the consequences of those failures were dire.”

The report also highlighted disagreements between Democrats and Republicans on the committee about whether additional funding would resolve some of the Secret Service’s ongoing issues, including manpower shortages and resource deficiencies.

The current government funding bill includes $230 million in supplemental funds for the Secret Service to enhance security for presidential candidates as the 2024 election approaches.

While Democrats like Senator Blumenthal argued that more resources are necessary, others, including Representative Rand Paul, have called for leadership changes at the Secret Service.

Paul contended that addressing management issues is key, stating, “No amount of money that you give to the Secret Service is going to alleviate the human errors if you leave the same humans in charge who made these terrible, dramatic mistakes.”

The Secret Service has faced other scandals in recent years, including an incident where a female agent at Joint Base Andrews had a mental breakdown and attacked her supervisor.

Other agents wrestled her to the ground and removed her gun before placing her on medical leave.

Whistleblowers within the agency have attributed some of these problems to lowering hiring standards and focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to address years of manpower shortages.

They have also pointed to long-standing issues like nepotism and non-merit-based favoritism in hiring and promotions.

The sexual assault allegation against the Secret Service agent is part of a larger pattern of misconduct.

The agency has struggled to enforce internal policies, including rules on alcohol use. These rules, implemented after a 2012 scandal in Cartagena, Colombia, prohibit drinking within 10 hours of reporting for duty.

Despite the policy, incidents of alcohol-related misconduct have continued, such as in 2014, when agents responsible for protecting President Obama in Amsterdam were sent home after a night of heavy drinking.

The investigation into the recent allegations involving Kamala’s campaign staffer is ongoing, and both the Secret Service and the Office of the Vice President are expected to release further updates as the inquiry progresses.