Secret Service Director Leaving to Join Snapchat
WASHINGTON—The head of the U.S. Secret Service is retiring to take a top security post at the California-based social-media company Snap Inc., the parent of
Snapchat,
officials said Thursday.
James Murray, director since 2019, had been looking to retire since the spring after 27 years with the law-enforcement agency best known for protecting presidents, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. He delayed leaving until July 30 because he wanted to lead the organization through the G7, NATO and Summit of Americas meetings, as well as to present the Secret Service’s new budget, the spokesman said.
“Jim embodies the meaning of service over self and protected the families of U.S. presidents like they were part of his own,” President Biden and first lady Jill Biden said in a statement. Deputy Director Faron Paramore will take over in an acting role if Mr. Biden doesn’t immediately name someone else to the job.
The agency of roughly 6,500 employees tasked with securing the White House has been at the center of controversies in past years, including a 2012 prostitution scandal and a number of security lapses that drew congressional attention during the Obama administration.
The Secret Service was in the spotlight again last week in testimony before a House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S Capitol by supporters of former President
Donald Trump.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to Mr. Trump’s last chief of staff,
Mark Meadows,
said was told that Mr. Trump wanted to be driven to the Capitol that day and wrestled for the steering wheel with the Secret Service when his order was refused.
Secret Service officials have challenged the allegation that Mr. Trump lunged at the steering wheel or assaulted an agent, and the agency said it would make available any personnel that the Jan. 6 committee requested to testify under oath in response.
Mr. Murray’s departure is unrelated to the testimony, White House press secretary
Karine Jean-Pierre
said. “It is not connected at all,” she said. “This has been in talks for some time.”
A spokesperson for Snap said Mr. Murray is set to start working there on Aug. 1 as its chief security official and will report directly to the chief executive and co-founder,
Evan Spiegel.
Under Mr. Murray’s leadership, “the Secret Service has reinforced its stature as the pre-eminent protective agency in the world and has increased in sophistication and scope its investigative capabilities to meet an increasingly dynamic threat landscape,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
Write to Sadie Gurman at [email protected] and Alexa Corse at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
WASHINGTON—The head of the U.S. Secret Service is retiring to take a top security post at the California-based social-media company Snap Inc., the parent of
Snapchat,
officials said Thursday.
James Murray, director since 2019, had been looking to retire since the spring after 27 years with the law-enforcement agency best known for protecting presidents, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. He delayed leaving until July 30 because he wanted to lead the organization through the G7, NATO and Summit of Americas meetings, as well as to present the Secret Service’s new budget, the spokesman said.
“Jim embodies the meaning of service over self and protected the families of U.S. presidents like they were part of his own,” President Biden and first lady Jill Biden said in a statement. Deputy Director Faron Paramore will take over in an acting role if Mr. Biden doesn’t immediately name someone else to the job.
The agency of roughly 6,500 employees tasked with securing the White House has been at the center of controversies in past years, including a 2012 prostitution scandal and a number of security lapses that drew congressional attention during the Obama administration.
The Secret Service was in the spotlight again last week in testimony before a House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S Capitol by supporters of former President
Donald Trump.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to Mr. Trump’s last chief of staff,
Mark Meadows,
said was told that Mr. Trump wanted to be driven to the Capitol that day and wrestled for the steering wheel with the Secret Service when his order was refused.
Secret Service officials have challenged the allegation that Mr. Trump lunged at the steering wheel or assaulted an agent, and the agency said it would make available any personnel that the Jan. 6 committee requested to testify under oath in response.
Mr. Murray’s departure is unrelated to the testimony, White House press secretary
Karine Jean-Pierre
said. “It is not connected at all,” she said. “This has been in talks for some time.”
A spokesperson for Snap said Mr. Murray is set to start working there on Aug. 1 as its chief security official and will report directly to the chief executive and co-founder,
Evan Spiegel.
Under Mr. Murray’s leadership, “the Secret Service has reinforced its stature as the pre-eminent protective agency in the world and has increased in sophistication and scope its investigative capabilities to meet an increasingly dynamic threat landscape,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
Write to Sadie Gurman at [email protected] and Alexa Corse at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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