Secret Service Director Leaves for Snapchat

James Murray quits as agency becomes snagged in Jan. 6 investigation
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 7, 2022 6:45 PM CDT
Secret Service Director Leaves for Snapchat
James Murray stands before portraits of former Secret Service directors in 2019.   (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

James Murray, director of the Secret Service since 2019, is leaving the government for social media. His new job is in security for Snapchat, the Washington Post reports. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas praised Murray as an adviser, and the agency issued a statement saying Murray "helped the agency navigate the unique challenges presented by the historic COVID-19 pandemic" while maintaining its role "of providing protection to senior elected leaders and investigating crimes targeting our financial infrastructure." Murray, who has worked for the Secret Service for 27 years, will leave at the end of the month.

Murray will be the top security officer for Snap, parent company of Snapchat, per the Hollywood Reporter. His responsibilities will include the safety of the company's more than 5,000 global employees. Murray is leaving shortly after Secret Service employees became embroiled in the House committee investigation of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Several agents reportedly disputed Cassidy Hutchinson's public testimony about then-President Trump's response to being told he wouldn't be taken to the Capitol that day. Their credibility has been questioned because of their close ties to Trump. It was Murray who allowed Anthony Ornato, whom Hutchinson quoted in her testimony, switch from the Secret Service to deputy chief of staff for Trump in 2019, per Politico. (More Secret Service stories.)

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