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US Secret Service Laptop with Sensitive Information Stolen in New York
A laptop computer containing floor plans for Trump Tower and other national security information was stolen from a Secret Service agent’s vehicle in New York City on Thursday, a law enforcement official told ABC News.
The laptop was protected by encryption and carried no classified information, the Secret Service said.
But the computer does have details on a criminal inquiry into former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
Police are looking at surveillance footage to identify a suspect.
The Secret Service released a statement saying “an employee was the victim of a criminal act in which our Agency issued laptop was stolen”.
The agency added that its computers “contain multiple layers of security including full disk encryption and are not permitted to contain classified information”.
ABC said the female agent’s vehicle was targeted in the Bath Beach area of Brooklyn on Thursday.
CBS News said the computer also carried important files on Pope Francis.
A police source told the New York Daily News: “There’s data on there that’s highly sensitive. They’re scrambling like mad.”
Secret Service “lapel assignment pins” for President Donald Trump, the Clinton campaign and the United Nations General Assembly were also taken with the laptop, according to US media.
The items were reportedly stolen from a bag inside a car in the agent’s driveway. The bag has since been recovered but the laptop has not, US media reported.
