A laptop with sensitive security information on it was stolen from a Secret Service agent in New York City, law enforcement officials said Friday, prompting a multiagency investigation to try to retrieve it.
The Secret Service said in a statement that “an employee was the victim of a criminal act in which our agency-issued laptop computer was stolen.’’
The investigation into the laptop theft occurred as a House committee separately launched an investigation into an intrusion earlier this month on White House grounds.
The agency tried to dispel concerns about the security risks posed by the theft, saying their agents’ laptops “contain multiple layers of security including full disk encryption and are not permitted to contain classified information.’’
The agency did not say what sensitive information might be on the laptop, but one law enforcement official said it contained building and security plans for Trump Tower, home of President Donald Trump and his family.
The official said the laptop was stolen from a vehicle in the driveway of the agent’s home in Brooklyn on Thursday morning. The computer was in a bag that was later recovered, but the laptop was no longer in it, the official said. A personal laptop was also in the bag and taken by the thief, but officials are less concerned about the data on that device, the official said.
Authorities have recovered video of a man walking away with the bag.