Secret Service shoots armed individual near Washington

 

SUSPECTED GUNMAN SHOOTING Secret Service officer at WHCD: Pirro

 

Shooting Suspect ID'd as Cole Allen Pinned to Ground at White House Correspondents' Dinner

 

 

 vvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Cole Allen, 31-year-old California teacher, ID’d as White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter

By
Joe Marino,
Josh Christenson,
Daniel Farr,
Steven Nelson,
Jared Downing and
Emily Goodin

Published April 25, 2026, 11:01 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON — The gunman who opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night has been identified as Cole Allen of Torrance, Calif. — with President Trump calling him a likely “lone wolf whack job” who “looked pretty evil.”

The 31-year-old, whom a federal law enforcement source confirmed is a teacher, was arrested after allegedly entering the Washington Hilton hotel and charging toward the ballroom where Trump and roughly 2,500 guests had assembled.

The gunfire broke out near the event’s indoor security screening area just after 8:30 p.m. — as salad was being served. The Secret Service rushed Trump out of the room as members of his cabinet ducked under tables before they too were evacuated.

Allen’s neighbor, who gave the name Jeff Smith, told The Post that “maybe he could be on the spectrum.”

FULL STATEMENT: Trump recounts evacuation after shooting during White House Correspondents' Dinner +

 

 

 

Secret Service Agent Protecting Jill Biden Shoots Himself, Agency Says

(Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)

Ashley Brasfield

Reporter

March 27, 202612:59 PM ET

A U.S. Secret Service (USS) agent assigned to former First Lady Jill Biden’s protective detail accidentally shot himself in the leg by mishandling his weapon, the agency said.

Biden was not near the incident Friday morning when an on‑duty Secret Service agent accidentally shot himself in the leg while assigned to escort the former first lady at Philadelphia International Airport, the USS confirmed to the Daily Caller. 

(RELATED: Jill Biden’s Ex-Husband Charged With Murdering Wife)

The agent “suffered a non-life-threatening injury following a negligent discharge while handling a service weapon at the Philadelphia International Airport during a protective assignment,” the Secret Service said in a statement to the Caller. “There were no reported injuries to any other individuals and the special agent is being evaluated at an area hospital in stable condition.”

The Philadelphia Police Department said emergency medical personnel took the agent to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was reported to be in stable condition, according to ABC News.

The department said the scene remains under investigation, but airport operations have not been affected. 

(RELATED: Secret Service Busts ‘Imminent Threat’ That Could Cripple Cell Networks)

The Secret Service’s Office of Professional Responsibility “will be reviewing the facts and circumstances of this incident,” the agency told the Caller.

Source

Man shot, killed at Mar-a-Lago by U.S. Secret Service agents, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office ...

BREAKING: U.S. Secret Service Agent LEAKS Sensitive Security Information...

"8647 Comey"

"8647 Comey" refers to a recent controversy involving former FBI Director James Comey and a social media post.

Here's a breakdown:

The Incident: Comey posted a picture on Instagram of seashells forming the numbers "8647" on a beach, captioning it, "Cool shell formation on my beach walk". He later deleted the post.

"8647" Meaning: The number "86" is a slang term with several meanings, most commonly "to get rid of" or "throw out". Some also associate it with violence, meaning "to kill". The "47" refers to Donald Trump, the 47th President of the United States. The phrase "8647" has also been used as a way to silently protest Trump.

The Controversy: Republicans and Trump allies interpreted Comey's post as a veiled threat against Trump, even suggesting it was a call for assassination. Donald Trump Jr. specifically accused Comey of "calling for my dad to be murdered".

Comey's Explanation: Comey stated he was unaware of the violent interpretation of "86," saying he believed it was a political message and that he opposes violence of any kind. He told MSNBC he thought the formation was "clever" and created by "somebody with artistic flair" and no "dark intention".
Investigation and Consequences: The U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security began investigating the post. Comey was interviewed by the Secret Service for about an hour. There were also calls from some Republicans for Comey to face legal consequences. It is unclear if the investigation has concluded or what any next steps would entail.

Reactions and investigation:

The post generated strong reactions from Republicans and led to an investigation by the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security.

Comey voluntarily participated in the questioning for about an hour.

The investigation and the meaning of the post remain subjects of ongoing discussion. 

References:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70nqk9rlxpo

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/16/nx-s1-5400400/comey-trump-8647-investigation-instagram

Google AI 

Secret Service shoots armed man near White House

Former Secret Service Chief Wanted To Destroy Cocaine Evidence

By Susan Crabtree - RCP StaffAugust 05, 2024

Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and others in top agency leadership positions wanted to destroy the cocaine discovered in the White House last summer, but the Secret Service Forensics Services Division and the Uniformed Division stood firm and rejected the push to dispose of the evidence, according to three sources in the Secret Service community.

Multiple heated confrontations and disagreements over how best to handle the cocaine ensued after a Secret Services Uniformed Division officer found the bag on July 2, 2023, a quiet Sunday while President Biden and his family were at Camp David in Maryland, the sources said.

At least one Uniformed Division officer was initially assigned to investigate the cocaine incident. But after he told his supervisors, including Cheatle and Acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe, who was deputy director at the time, that he wanted to follow a certain crime-scene investigative protocol, he was taken off the case, according to a source within the Secret Service community familiar with the circumstances of his removal.

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi denied that Cheatle or Rowe or anyone in Secret Service leadership asked for the cocaine evidence to be destroyed. Guglielmi, however, ignored a detailed set of questions asking if an agent or officer had been removed from the investigation and whether anyone has been retaliated against for rejecting leadership’s orders or requests during that process or afterward.

“This is false,” Guglielmi said in a statement. “The US Secret Service takes its investigative and protective responsibilities very seriously. There are retention policies for criminal investigations, and the Secret Service adhered to those requirements during this case.”

The discovery of the bag of cocaine posed an unusual problem for Cheatle, who resigned in the face of bipartisan pressure after the July 13 assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

Secret Service director resigns after Trump assassination attempt: reports

Secret Service director resigns after Trump assassination attempt: reports

Jacob Knutson

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle in Chicago in June 2024. Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images


U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday following the attempted assassination of former President Trump earlier this month at a rally in Pennsylvania, according to multiple media outlets.

Why it matters: The shooting by a lone gunman killed one person and wounded the Republican presidential nominee and two others. By Cheatle's own admission, it marked the "most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades."Cheatle told a House committee in mid-July that she took "full responsibility" for the lapses that led to the shooting.

Context: Cheatle resigned as the Secret Service faces intense scrutiny from numerous federal and congressional probes into its handling of security before and during Trump's political rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers called on her to step down over the lapses.

Zoom in: House lawmakers have said that FBI and Secret Service officials told them that the building from which the gunman fired his shots was identified as "an area of concern" as early as five days ahead of the event.On the day of the rally, the Secret Service was notified of a suspicious person with a rangefinder about 10 minutes before Trump walked on stage and roughly 20 minutes before shots were fired.

Zoom out: The Secret Service had increased its protective measures around Trump ahead of the rally after the U.S. received intelligence concerning an Iranian plot to assassinate him.However, the service had also denied requests for additional federal resources from Trump's security detail over the two years before the assassination attempt, according to the New York Times.


The big picture: The FBI, which is investigating the shooting as a potential act of domestic terrorism, has yet to determine the gunman's motive.The little information so far released about the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, has not clearly indicated political or ideological intentions behind the attack.
Crooks was registered as a Republican and donated money to a Democratic political action committee, but was also too young to have voted in any previous presidential elections.

Go deeper: Trump rally violence recalls historic presidential attacks

Source

‘Deeply evil’: Democrat Congressman tried to remove Trump’s Secret Servi...

Kimberly Cheatle, Director of the United States Secret Service

Kimberly Cheatle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kim Cheatle

Director of the United States Secret Service

Incumbent
Assumed office
September 17, 2022
President Joe Biden
Preceded by James M. Murray
Personal details
Education Eastern Illinois University (BA)
Awards Presidential Rank Award (2021)


Kimberly A. Cheatle is an American law enforcement officer who has served as the 27th director of the United States Secret Service since September 2022.[1] She previously held multiple roles in the United States Secret Service for over 25 years.
Career

Cheatle joined the United States Secret Service in 1995.[2] She was involved in the evacuation of Vice President Dick Cheney on the September 11 attacks, and served on Joe Biden's protective detail during the Obama administration, when she was assigned to the Vice Presidential Protective Division.[3] In 2017 and 2018, she served as deputy assistant director. She also served as special-agent-in-charge in the Grand Rapids, Michigan, office. She became the first woman to serve as assistant director of Protective Operations, a department tasked with protection of the president and dignitaries, and managed a budget of over $133.5 million.[4]

From 2019 to 2022, Cheatle served as senior director of global security at PepsiCo, where she was responsible for directing and implementing security protocols for the company's facilities in North America. Her role involves developing risk management assessment and risk mitigation.[5][6][7]

In 2021, U.S. president Joe Biden awarded Cheatle a Presidential Rank Award for exceptional performance.[8] In August 2022, Biden announced the appointment of Cheatle to be director of the United States Secret Service,[9] and she assumed office on September 17, 2022.[10] Cheatle took over the Secret Service following "a turbulent couple months in which the agency best known for protecting presidents has faced controversies related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol."[11] During a CBS News interview in May 2023, Cheatle stated the Secret Service, which had a 48% departure rate, needed to "attract diverse candidates and give opportunities to everybody in the workforce, particularly women." She said she aims to have 30% women in the agency by 2030.[12]

On July 13, 2024, during the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Cheatle was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where the 2024 Republican National Convention was to be held. In the wake of the shooting, Cheatle and the Secret Service were widely criticized for the perceived security failure.[13]

Source

Wayward Party Balloons Trigger Latest White House Security Scare

Michelle Jamrisko mljamrisko
May 22, 2016 — 3:02 PM EDT



Innocent incident follows recent shooting of armed suspect
Secret Service has proposed higher fence around the residence

The latest security scare at the White House turned out to be nothing more than wayward party balloons drifting into secured airspace.

While lockdowns at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are common -- even the most innocuous-looking unattended package merits security measures around the U.S. president’s residence -- the area is on especially high alert at the moment.

Several balloons lofted just above White House grounds early Sunday afternoon, prompting a White House lockdown before the all-clear was given about 10 minutes later, according to tweets from NBC Nightly News.

Sunday’s brief and apparently innocent violation followed recent serious incidents in the area. A Secret Service agent on Friday shot an armed suspect near the White House after reports of gunfire, according to an agency statement. The man was transported to a hospital with critical injuries.

The Secret Service regularly contends with people attempting to jump the metal fence that encircles the White House grounds and has proposed raising it. In September 2014 a man scaled the fence and was able to enter the executive mansion before being apprehended. In response, at least one lawmaker suggested constructing a moat around the property.

Requests for information on Sunday’s incident via a call and e-mail to the White House press office weren’t immediately returned. President Barack Obama is currently in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Source

.

Two Secret Service agents cut from Obama’s detail after alleged misconduct

By Carol D. Leonnig and David Nakamura, Published: November 13



A call from the Hay-Adams hotel this past spring reporting that a Secret Service agent was trying to force his way into a woman’s room set in motion an internal investigation that has sent tremors through an agency still trying to restore its elite reputation.

The incident came a year after the agency was roiled by a prostitution scandal in Cartagena, Colombia, prompting vows from senior officials to curb a male-dominated culture of hard partying and other excesses.

The service named its first female director, Julia Pierson, seven months ago, and an extensive inspector general report on the agency’s culture launched in the wake of the Car­tagena scandal is expected to be released in coming weeks.

The disruption at the Hay-
Adams in May involved Ignacio Zamora Jr., a senior supervisor who oversaw about two dozen agents in the Secret Service’s most elite assignment — the president’s security detail. Zamora was allegedly discovered attempting to reenter a woman’s room after accidentally leaving behind a bullet from his service weapon. The incident has not been previously reported.

In a follow-up investigation, agency officials also found that Zamora and another supervisor, Timothy Barraclough, had sent sexually suggestive e-mails to a female subordinate, according to those with knowledge of the case. Officials have removed Zamora from his position and moved Barraclough off the detail to a separate part of the division, people familiar with the case said.

Details about the Hay-Adams episode and related findings were provided by four people who have been briefed on the case, including two who have viewed summaries of the internal Secret Service review.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan declined to comment on the internal review of the Hay-
Adams incident or the supervisors’ alleged behavior. He said that no employees — including Zamora and Barraclough — wished to comment.

An attorney for Zamora and Barraclough also declined to comment on the allegations or the Secret Service’s internal inquiry. Messages left for Zamora on his home phone were not returned; efforts to reach Barraclough through home and fax numbers were unsuccessful. An attorney for the female agent in the protective division declined to comment.

“We have always maintained that the Secret Service has a professional and dedicated workforce,” Donovan said in a statement, referring to the Hay-Adams incident. “Periodically we have isolated incidents of misconduct, just like every organization does.”

Donovan added that “we work diligently with our Office of Professional Responsibility and Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General” to resolve such cases “appropriately and quickly.”

But the inspector general’s office was unaware of the hotel incident or the related findings until The Washington Post began making inquiries about the case last month, according to people briefed on the matter.

The Secret Service did not refer the case to the inspector general until the week of Oct. 28. In a preliminary look, the office concluded that the Secret Service had handled the case administratively and that the alleged misconduct did not require independent review, according to a person familiar with the referral.


Bill Hillburg, a spokesman for the DHS Office of Inspector General, said the upcoming report on Secret Service culture seeks to answer whether the antics of agents in Cartagena were atypical or the result of a broader culture that included excessive partying and womanizing. Hillburg declined to say whether the Hay-Adams case was part of the review.

“At each stage, as we conducted interviews, we were made aware of other incidents and potential misconduct that we are now pursuing,” Hillburg said.

The Hay-Adams, which overlooks the White House and served as the Obama family’s temporary home before the president’s first inauguration, is accustomed to seeing Secret Service agents on and off duty. One night in May, hotel staff alerted the White House about odd behavior by an agent demanding access to one of their guest rooms.

Colette Marquez, the Hay-Adams’s general manager, declined to comment when asked about the incident.

According to the Secret Service’s internal findings, Zamora was off duty when he met a woman at the hotel’s Off the Record bar and later joined her in her room.

The review found that Zamora had removed ammunition from the chamber of his government-issued handgun during his stay in the room and then left behind a single bullet. He returned to the room when he realized his mistake. The guest refused to let him back in. Zamora identified himself to hotel security as a Secret Service agent.

The incident led to an investigation that included a routine search of Zamora’s government-issued BlackBerry, which contained sexually charged messages to the female agent, according to the people briefed on the findings.

The review of the communications revealed that Barraclough also had sent inappropriate and suggestive messages to the female agent, according to people familiar with the case.

The Post is not disclosing the woman’s name because, according to the people briefed on the findings, she has not been disciplined.

All Secret Service employees must maintain top-secret security clearances to be employed. An inspector general’s report this year that dealt with events in Cartagena said employees’ sexual behavior should be considered in granting or revoking security clearances “when the behavior may subject the individual to coercion, exploitation, or duress, or reflects lack of judgment or discretion.”

Zamora, a veteran agent who had risen to become a shift commander at the top rungs of Obama’s protective detail, previously headed first lady Laura Bush’s protective detail. Barraclough joined the presidential protective detail four years ago.

Zamora is described by those who have worked with him as a professional, sometimes brash agent who formerly led the agency’s Mexico City office. In Bush’s memoir, she called Zamora one of a handful of agents she relied on to keep her safe just after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Zamora was promoted to the president’s protective division several years ago, most recently serving as a shift supervisor overseeing the rotating assignments of about two dozen agents, according to two people who have worked with him.

The new incidents echo some of the elements of the most damaging scandal in the service’s history, in which male agents brought prostitutes back to their rooms in Cartagena after a night of heavy drinking in April 2012. An agency that had a reputation as the creme de la creme of law enforcement was suddenly the subject of congressional hearings, multiple investigations and questions about whether it had fostered a male-dominated culture of sexism and partying.

Then-Director Mark Sullivan apologized for the scandal but called it an anomaly in an agency of 3,500 agents and 1,400 uniformed officers. In the wake of that incident, the agency adopted new policies banning the consumption of alcohol 10 hours before employees report to work and limiting consumption to “moderate amounts” during off-duty hours. Agents and officers cannot drink alcohol when stationed at the hotel of the public official they are assigned to protect.

Sullivan stepped down this year, giving Obama an opening to pick a woman to head the agency for the first time. People familiar with the agency said Pierson has been focused largely on budget issues, as the agency deals with government-wide spending cuts.

Alice Crites contributed to this report.


Source
.

The Bob Menendez ‘standard’

Last Updated: 10:49 PM, January 31, 2013
Posted: February 01, 2013


Bob Menendez is certainly raising new questions about what the Senate means by “foreign relations.”

As the New Jersey Democrat assumes the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he finds himself facing an FBI probe. Among the most serious allegations against him is that he engaged underage prostitutes during trips to the Dominican Republic paid for by a wealthy donor.

The bureau this week raided the offices of that donor, a Miami doctor who flew Menendez to a resort on his private jet for free, trips the senator failed to disclose until reporters discovered the truth.

AP
Bob Menendez

Menendez has now reimbursed the donor $58,500 for the flights, but his office denies reports that the 59-year-old senator has been traveling to the Caribbean to cavort with underage girls.

As officials sort out the charges and denials, it’s illuminating to look back at how Menedez responded in October, after US Secret Service officers doing advance work for a presidential visit to Colombia were caught bringing prostitutes to their rooms.

“If the facts are true, they should all be fired,” he said back then, though under Colombian law it’s not illegal to hire hookers.

“The reality is that the Secret Service . . . represent[s] the United States of America.”

He got that right. We don’t know yet whether Menendez is guilty. But if, in his words, “the facts turn out to be true,” surely the Mendendez standard ought to be applied to Bob Menendez, too.

Source

.

Inside Hillary Clinton's security bubble

CBS

Published on Sep 22, 2011


In her first three years serving as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has traveled more than 600,000 miles to 87 countries, visiting some of the world's most dangerous places. Jim Axelrod reports on the security team in charge of keeping her safe.


Category

Secret Service needs more women in its ranks

By Joe Davidson, Published: April 24


Maybe the Secret Service has too much testosterone.

Would more female agents have made the sex scandal involving special agents and Colombian prostitutes less likely?

No one can answer that with any certainty, but the scandal does raise the issue of gender diversity among those who are willing to die for the president. There is very little diversity among them — about 90 percent of Secret Service agents are men.

The probability of the scandal happening “would have been reduced significantly” if there were more women on the Cartagena detail, said Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.).

Greater gender diversity can set a different tone in “recreational liberties,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.)

Ironically, the first agent to investigate the scandal was a woman. Paula Reid, the special agent in charge of the Miami office who was in Cartagena at the time, ordered the offending personnel home.

Maloney cited a former agent quoted in Sunday’s Washington Post who said: “If every boss was Paula Reid, the Secret Service would never have a problem. It would be a lot more boring, but never a problem.”

Barbara Riggs was the agency’s highest-ranking female, deputy director, until her retirement in 2006 after 31 years of service. She said there’s no way to know whether more women in Cartagena would have made a difference, adding the question “does a disservice to men who serve honorably.”

When she joined the agency, women carrying guns was still a novel idea. The first woman in what is now the agency’s Uniformed Division was hired in 1970. The first five female special agents were sworn in the next year.

Of course, women also can act like “knuckleheads” — President Obama’s word. But there aren’t many of them to act good, bad or in any other way as agents in a force that still looks like a fraternity, a brotherhood, a good ol’ boys club.

It’s a status the agency says it wants to shake.

Diversity “is a continued agency priority that is critical to our success,” says its Web site, which also promotes “a comprehensive, proactive, model Equal Opportunity Program that is integrated into the agency’s mission.”

The agency runs the expected recruitment and diversity routes, but it doesn’t have many women to show for it.

Edwin M. Donovan, a special agent and spokesman for the agency, said its recruitment division targets pools of candidates in an effort to better diversify its workforce. Agency officials have engaged an outside recruitment service to find female applicants, and recruiters visit women’s colleges and participate in dozens of career fairs that focus on women.

Of those employed, seven of 45 special agents in charge of field offices are women, as are four deputy assistant directors out of 20. The chief of staff is a woman. About 25 percent of the whole workforce is female.

Those stats aren’t good, but at least they are a little better than the 11 percent women that Donovan said is the case with special agents.

So why is its record so bad?

Riggs cites the tremendous toll the job takes on personal lives.

“Being a special agent in the Secret Service, it’s not just a job, it’s not just a career,” she said. “It’s a lifestyle.”

The protection mission separates it even from other high-stress law-enforcement gigs.

“That requires people to be away from home for a significant amount of time,” she added. “There are some people who don’t want to make that commitment.” Particularly for women who are primary caregivers, “that’s a difficult position to be in.”

The 11 percent is a difficult position for the agency to be in.

“That doesn’t reflect America, and once you look at the overlay of race. . . . The Secret Service still has some work to do,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).

He recalled a visit to the agency training facility in Laurel where “there was not a single African American in the class, maybe two Hispanics and a few women. . . . It was so shocking . . . virtually devoid of diversity, whether it was gender or race.”

Black agents filed a racial bias lawsuit against the agency in 2000. It’s still active litigation.

Riggs said the percentage of female agents steadily increased when she was on the job. But then, “it hit that 11 or 12 percent and just plateaued.”

That plateau is not a great place to be.

“They need to be aggressive in their outreach,” Jackson Lee said. “They need to do more.”


Previous columns by Joe Davidson are available at wapo.st/JoeDavidson. Follow the Federal Diary on Twitter: @JoeDavidsonWP


Source

.

Congresswoman calls Secret Service scandal an “international incident”

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

msnbc.com - 6 days ago MSNBC's Thomas Roberts speaks with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee about impact of the photos of US troops posing with suicide bombers, and the international ...

Source
.

Secret Service Calls Nugent Over Anti-Obama Screed

Wednesday, 18 Apr 2012 04:45 PM


Rocker and gun rights champion Ted Nugent says he will meet with the Secret Service on Thursday to explain his raucous remarks about what he called Barack Obama's "evil, America-hating administration" — comments some critics interpreted as a threat against the president.

"The conclusion will be obvious that I threatened no one," Nugent told radio interviewer Glenn Beck on Wednesday. Nugent said he'd been contacted by the agency and would cooperate fully even though he found the complaints "silly."

The controversy erupted after the self-styled "Motor City Madman" made an impassioned plea for support for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during the National Rifle Association meeting in St. Louis last weekend. "We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November," Nugent said of the Obama administration.

He also included a cryptic pronouncement: "If Barack Obama becomes the next president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year."

Outraged Democrats circulated the remarks and suggested they were threatening. Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie confirmed that the agency was looking into the matter but declined to give details. "We are aware of the incident and we are taking appropriate follow-up," Ogilvie said.

Nugent said he was simply trying to galvanize voters. The hard rocker, best known for '70s hits like "Cat Scratch Fever," is a conservative activist and has a history of heated and sometimes vulgar criticism of Obama. Nugent endorsed Romney after speaking to him last month.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz called on Romney to "condemn Nugent's violent and hateful rhetoric."

Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul addressed the issue with a brief statement: "Divisive language is offensive no matter what side of the political aisle it comes from. Mitt Romney believes everyone needs to be civil."


Source

.