U.S. Secret Service Director James Murray introduced Thursday that he'll "briefly delay" his retirement amid a number of investigations into the company's response to the assault on the U.S. Capitol.
In an inner message despatched to workers Thursday afternoon and obtained by CBS Information, Murray introduced his resolution to "briefly delay my retirement and transition to the personal sector in an effort to assist bridge the hole and foster a clean and significant transition for our future Director." The director added that he "lately spoke with Secretary Mayorkas and White Home management, who every agreed and prolonged the chance to take action."
The notice was despatched minutes after Murray had knowledgeable company management of his resolution to remain on for the quick future, in accordance with two U.S. Secret Service officers.
"I really feel strongly about utilizing this time to supervise and guarantee our company's continued cooperation, responsiveness, and full help with respect to ongoing Congressional and different inquiries," Murray wrote in his inner message to personnel. "Doing so is critically essential and I'm particularly grateful for the additional time to assist lead our Service ever ahead."
He was slated to serve his final day as director on July 31 earlier than transitioning into a brand new personal sector function at Snap, Inc.
Murray's resolution comes as DHS attorneys are actively evaluating whether or not or not U.S. Secret Service officers might proceed to cooperate with the Home choose committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol after the division's prime watchdog directed the company to stop wanting into what occurred to apparently deleted textual content messages from that day.
Murray served for 32 years within the federal authorities and has been the company's chief govt since Could 1, 2019. He oversaw the company by means of a record-breaking 42 protecting particulars deployed through the Trump administration, a presidential marketing campaign and the COVID-19 pandemic, along with navigating a collection of controversies.
The newest controversy got here earlier this month, after the Jan. 6 Home choose committee subpoenaed textual content messages of two dozen Secret Service brokers that have been apparently erased throughout an agency-wide know-how migration, regardless of preservation requests from investigators and Congress. Employees for the Home panel mentioned they solely obtained one textual content ensuing from the July 15 subpoena to the company requesting its textual content messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021.
The choose committee says the Secret Service might have violated the Federal Information Act by failing to correctly protect communications despatched and obtained through the assault on the U.S. Capitol.
In his notice to workers, Murray acknowledged that the U.S. Secret Service is dealing with a "distinctive and difficult time."
"Now, as all the time, our prime priorities are the success of our mission; the welfare of our folks; and our collective and particular person duty to serve our nation and fellow residents in a fashion that's all the time Worthy of Belief and Confidence," the director added. "I guarantee you that, throughout this temporary transition interval, I stay dedicated to pursuing every of those goals to the fullest measure."