White House Security Official Reportedly Gravely Ill With Coronavirus

This week, news broke that a high-ranking White House security official, Crede Bailey, has been hospitalized with COVID-19 since late September. The White House has not publicly disclosed Bailey's serious condition, though Bloomberg reported on it on Wednesday. Bailey reportedly became seriously ill before the Sept. 26 event where many believe President Donald Trump caught the coronavirus.

Bailey is the head of the White House security office, in charge of providing credentials and and access to the White House for all essential personnel. He works closely with the U.S. Secret Service on a day-to-day basis, and frequently travels around the compound. Four different sources attested to Bailey's serious condition, and he reportedly remains hospitalized today. So far, the White House has declined to comment on Bailey, or explain why his condition was not disclosed earlier in this crisis.

Bailey's case of COVID-19 reportedly began before the White House's reception for the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court on Sept. 26. The event has now been linked to over a dozen cases of the coronavirus, many among high-ranking Republican officials and lawmakers. The president and First Lady Melania Trump also became sick shortly after the event.

The White House has refused to cooperate with efforts at contact tracing for this outbreak, despite the recommendation of public health officials. They have also withheld other information up to this point, though Bailey's condition is a major development in the story. Previously, some suspected the virus originated with White House senior adviser Hope Hicks.

Bailey has reportedly been a federal employee for most of his career, though his position has rarely put him into the headlines. However, last year Bailey was called to testify before the House Oversight Committee during Trump's impeachment, due to the high security clearance granted to the president's daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. According to a report by The Hill, Bailey testified that he did not face pressure to grant this clearance.

The coronavirus outbreak in and around the White House has now impacted senators, RNC 2020 officials, administration officials and other public figures, as well as household staff behind the scenes. The president and his administration have refused to answer questions about the timing of COVID-19 tests both positive and negative, and the White House's testing protocol is now being called into question. Trump himself is now out of self-isolation, despite the likelihood that he is still infected and still contagious.