National Guard (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
#Roommates, with just hours left until Joe Biden is formally sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, the FBI is still cracking down on security measures—and that includes the National Guard. According to new reports, a dozen members of the National Guard have been removed from inauguration duties as a result of problematic findings in their background checks.
@CBSNews reports, 12 National Guard members were recently removed from inauguration duty, including two for “inappropriate” comments or texts, according to Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman. “We have two individuals that were identified as making inappropriate comments or texts,” Hoffman said. One National Guard member was removed after fellow troops brought his comments to the attention of Guard officers—while another was found out due to an anonymous tip, he said.
The other 10 National Guard troops were removed as a result of questions raised in security vetting conducted by the FBI, including a review of their criminal records and other information. As a precaution, they were pulled out during the vetting process “for a number of different reasons,” Hoffman said. U.S. law enforcement officials and military leaders were “looking back at anything that could potentially flag in a criminal history check, anything that could come up in a database that’s being scrubbed by our partners,” he added.
Additionally, Hoffman explained that while it may be too early to say if the 12 National Guard troops removed would be subject to disciplinary action or further investigation by law enforcement agencies, he said “We’re not taking any chances. Any reason that somebody’s name is brought to the chain of command, they’re being removed from the line.”
As we previously reported, security measures have taken unprecedented measures for the Inauguration Day of Joe Biden following the January 6th U.S. Capitol riots by Trump supporters that left six people dead.
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