National Guardsmen removed from inauguration duty after Secret Service vetting

 Twelve Army National Guard members were relieved of inauguration duty as part of the security vetting process to ensure troops do not have ties to extremist groups,  CNN reported. 

Two of the individuals were flagged due to “inappropriate” comments and texts while another 10 were removed for questionable behavior found in the vetting process, Army General Daniel Hokanson said.

“I’m not concerned as a large part of our organization, if you look at 25,000, we’ve had 12 identified and some of those they are just looking into, it may be unrelated to this, but we want to make sure out of an abundance of caution as I stated earlier that we do the right thing until that gets cleared up,” he added.

“Due to operational security, we do not discuss the process nor the outcome of the vetting process for military members supporting the inauguration,” the National Guard said, adding that future questions should be referred to the Secret Service.

“As is normal for military support to large security events, the Department will vet National Guardsmen who are in Washington, DC. While we have no intelligence indicating an insider threat, we are leaving no stone unturned in securing the capital. This type of vetting often takes place by law enforcement for significant security events. However, in this case the scope of military participation is unique,” Acting Defence Secretary Christopher Miller said in a statement on Monday while thanking the FBI for their assistance in the vetting process.

Associated Press was the first to break the story.