The U.S. Secret Service, a part of the Treasury Department, has responsibility for protecting the President, his family and many other important officials. The 3,200 agents and 1,300 members of the Uniformed Division have always been considered an elite and admirable group of people. A series of scandals has left this elite group with an image problem. It turns out scandals are nothing new, however. Here is a round-up of some of the biggest Secret Service scandals.
The problem with uninvited guests
In November 2009, at President Obama’s first state dinner, all guests were checked by Secret Service personnel. Well, some of them were. Tareq and Michaele Salahi, a publicity-seeking couple from Northern Virginia, were not on the guest list but they appear to have enjoyed their night out. They said so on Facebook and the pictures of them with the President seem to show their delight.
No, they were not invited. No, no one from the Secret Service checked them. They simply crashed the party. A White House party hosted by the President of the United States.
Did you hear something?
Two years later, a man parked in front of the White House and fired on the building with a rifle. Did swarms of agents and uniformed guards descend on him? No. A supervisor thought that the shots were a car backfiring and called off any investigation. Four days would pass before a housekeeper noticed broken glass. Seven shots struck the building, an unusual result for a car backfiring.
one night in cartagena
In April 2012, a group of agents from the Protective Detail were sent to Columbia in advance of a Presidential trip to that country. Naturally, the group got together with DEA agents assigned to the country and had a party. A party that included prostitutes. In the end, nine agents resigned or retired as a result of the wild night in Cartagena.
Multiple uses for official ammunition
In May 2013, a sordid tale of sex and harassment in the Secret Service came to light after an ugly incident at the Hay-Adams hotel in D.C. Before it was over, the supervisor would lose his job and a subordinate would be reassigned for sending “sexually suggestive emails” to a female subordinate. The Hay-Adams incident revolved around the supervisor leaving a bullet in a room and trying to force his way back in to retrieve it. The story was not made public until details leaked to the Washington Post in November.
…And another night in the netherlands
The Presidential Protective Detail continued to party on advance missions, it seems. In March 2014, three agents were sent home to sober up after an incident in the Netherlands. One agent, doing his part to enhance the reputation of his agency, was found by hotel staff drunk and passed out in a hallway.
Drunk, Driving and Girlfriend Detail
Also in March, two agents on the advance party for a Florida trip were sent home after an auto accident that my have bee alcohol related. In May the Washington Post broke the story of “Operation Moonlight”, a 2011 op where agents from the Protective Detail were used to protect the personal assistant of the agency’s director. Then Director Sullivan also detailed agents to protect a female friend.
Way worse than awkward elevator music
In September 2014, the details ring of protection around the President was breached by a security guard in Atlanta. He was stopped while taking video of the President on his cellphone while riding in a elevator with the group. It turned out that he was armed at the time, and an ex-con.
A fence jumber and a fib
Omar Gonzalez jumped the fence at the White House that same month. A detail that has excelled at catching toddlers who slip through the fence allowed him to run across the lawn, into the building, and to penetrate deep into the protected zone. He was finally subdued by an off-duty Secret Service agent and was found to be carrying a knife.
The first response by a Secret Service spokesman was to fib. The claim was that he had been caught in the foyer. Instead, he had nearly reached the Green Room. The alarm that should have signaled his intrusion was muted or off, at the request of White House staff who found it annoying. Surely not as annoying as being stabbed?
Past scandals – statutory rape, stolen weapons and drinking while on duty
Time Magazine noted some older scandals in a 2014 piece. In 2001, an agent stole about $3,000 in cash from evidence. In 1999, a female agent guarding Hillary Clinton had her personal weapon stolen from her unattended purse. In 1997, an agent assigned to President Reagan was convicted on statutory rape and drug charges. In 1964, the Warren Commission found that President Kennedy’s detail had been drinking the night before the shooting in Dallas.
Becoming a part of the crime scene
The latest mess is from March 2015. Two agents responded to a potential bomb threat at the White House and not only drove into the crime scene but may have nearly run over the suspicious package being investigated. Officers on scene wanted to administer sobriety tests but were directed by a supervisor to release the agents without testing. One of the two was Marc Connolly, the second-in-command on the Protective Detail and he has just announced his retirement.
Well, let’s go to the tape. Oh, wait. The tape that existed of the incident is gone, erased. The Secret Service told Congress that surveillance tapes of the White House grounds are routinely erased after 72 hours. However, the latest Director of the Secret Service was somehow able to show Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, two tapes that showed views of the incident without being definitive.
The once-proud Secret Service has reached a nadir in its public profile. The word “secret” now seems to apply more to covering up for agents that in keeping the confidences of the chief executive. It also seems that the Protective Detail could stand to have its own weekly AA meeting. They could hold it at the Hay-Adams.
