Washington: More US Secret Service agents have been sent to Wilmington, Delaware, in anticipation of a potential Joe Biden presidential win after the Democratic Party nominee was leading in the vote count against incumbent President Donald Trump, a media report said Friday.
The extra Secret Service agents were sent to Delaware Thursday, CNN quoted two unnamed sources as saying.
Upon a presidential win, the USSS detail for a president-elect would get larger and mirror the size and scope of a president’s.
Additional airspace security measures are also implemented, a source familiar with USSS protocols said. A team for the 77-year-old former US vice president has been on standby since last week, the source said.
According to latest US media projections, Biden pulled ahead of Trump in Georgia. He has also taken the lead over Trump in Pennsylvania.
Biden has secured 253 electoral college votes out of at least 270 required for winning the 2020 presidential election against Trump, a Republican. Trump has received 213 electroral colleage votes out of the 538 up for grabs.
“This is as expected. It’s actually a little bit delayed. It’s not telegraphing any specific concern,” a senior law enforcement official said.
The bolstering of security typically happens on election night, the official said, but USSS has played it “cautiously” as the agency does not want seen as making a decision on the election.
Wednesday, additional security assets were deployed in Biden’s motorcade consistent with Presidential entourages that are equipped to handle a wide variety of threats and situations and are not part of the typical secret service teams a candidate receives, in addition to Biden’s original detail, the report said.
A USSS spokesperson declined to provide additional details to CNN, saying, “For operational security reasons, the Secret Service cannot discuss specifically or in general terms the means, methods or resources we utilise to carry out our protective mission.”
PTI