Protecting the President
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PROTECTING THE PRESIDENT
Copyright © 2017 by Dan Bongino
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Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-944229-86-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-944229-87-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request
Dedicated to the men and women of law enforcement. The brave guardians who selflessly put their lives on the line, defending us against the wolf pack.
CONTENTS
Foreword
Acknowledgments
List of Acronyms
Introduction
PART I: WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE SECRET SERVICE
1The Special Agent Mess
2The Uniformed Division Officer Mess
3The Evolving Threats from the “Big Six”
4The Threat of a Tactical Assault on the President
5The Threat of a Presidential Medical Emergency
6The Threat to the President from Chemical/Biological Attacks and Explosives
7The Growing Threat to the President from the Skies
8Trump and Twitter: A Blessing and a Curse
9Temporary Protection Agents, the “Wow” Factor, and White House Staff Ass-Kissing
10The Broken White House Security Plan
11The Broken Secret Service Hiring and Promotion Process
PART II: WHAT THE SECRET SERVICE IS DOING RIGHT
12The Special Agent Training Program
13Interagency Cooperation
14Your Child’s School Is Safer Because the Secret Service Studied Assassins
PART III: HOW TO FIX THE SECRET SERVICE
15Worthy of Trust and Confidence
Notes
Index
FOREWORD
If you ask any person living in America today what the United States Secret Service does, they will likely tell you, “They’re the guys who protect the president,” and that is true. Quite simply, the brave men and women of the Secret Service have an awesome responsibility: They are tasked with keeping the single most important person on Earth, The president of the United States, alive and well. The agency does all this while being an indirect representation to the office of the president, the White House and the people who are affiliated with the executive branch of our government (whether the Service wants to be that representation or not). Agents of the Secret Service must maintain the highest tiers of security while simultaneously respecting privacy, maintaining discretion and trust, and understanding that the organization’s own public image coincides with one of the most powerful political figures in the world. It’s an incredible burden, and one to which we all owe our gratitude. When it is spelled out with such simplicity, it is equally simple to understand why mistakes and missteps in security just cannot happen. It is also easy to understand what the agency’s fundamental mission is: Protection. The average American on the street seems to know it, so one would think that the agency understands it, too. The highest order of the U.S. Secret Service is to keep the commander in chief safe. Anything else, to include image, is a moot point.
When the agency was founded in 1865, it was commissioned to regulate and stop the spread of counterfeit currency in a post-Civil War era. Only later did it take on the mandate that it is so well known for today; that of executive protection at the highest level. This later mission has remained its fundamental core competency ever since, and it is what sets the United States Secret Service apart from other federal law enforcement agencies. Although investigations have remained an intricate part of the career of a U.S. Secret Service Special Agent, the understanding is protection is why everyone is there.
But in the last few decades, the United States Secret Service has forgotten where it began and what it is. An agency that once defined itself by protecting people without negotiating how it will do it now does so with a wink-and-a-nod understanding that the criteria of protection is open to interpretation and adjustment. Someone in the agency came in one day and started replacing right and wrong with black and white, and incorrectly thought that the two meant the same thing.
The right thing is often the hard thing to do; if the right thing were easy, everyone would do the right thing all the time. And we know that doesn’t happen. The organization that once told presidents where they could and could not go, decided one day to let White House staffers tell them how to secure a site for a visit, and it has never been the same; leaders who once did the right thing for their agents have been replaced with managers who buckle under the pressure of scheduling ridiculous hours of work for their subordinates, and the lack of morale and high attrition rate speaks for itself as the result. Field office agents who were once locked arm-in arm with their local law enforcement brethren on a protection assignment now tell their local counterparts to stand in corners, out of sight of the protectees who do not wish to see them. The leaders of yesteryear would have never tolerated such treatment of their law enforcement brothers, but the new and improved Secret Service allows this to occur daily, and is blessed at the highest levels of its management offices to do so. The mission used to be protection but the new core competency in today’s U.S. Secret Service is image. The agency has sacrificed its mission for its beauty.
For myself, joining the cadre of the United States Secret Service started twenty years before my first day on the job. As a young child, I had the privilege of having a friend whose father was an agent. My friend’s father was a powerful, positive influence for me in my young life, and it was that influence that propelled my ambition to become a Secret Service Agent. All the professional choices in my life, to include military college, my service to my country as military officer, and just staying out of trouble in my youth were all a means to an end for me: That end was to become a U.S. Secret Service Agent.
The day that I received the call telling me that I was accepted into the agency was one of the happiest, proudest days of my life. I was home alone when the personnel office called, and I paced excitedly while I waited for my wife to come home from work to give her the news. When she arrived home and I told her, she leapt into my arms with an excited squeal. It was wonderful, exciting time for us both, filled with a promise for the future and assurance that I was about to be a part of something special and meaningful for my country; to be part of a great, honorable agency with a single mission focus.
I could not have been more disappointed when I arrived.
The very first thing I noticed was the lack of leadership and accountability amongst the agency. Supervisors were motivated by minute details on meaningless paperwork, and were quick to criticize young agents for ridiculous, subjective things. Abuses in authority were commonplace amongst managers, and morale was terribly low. Truly, the only thing I remember fondly about those days was the camaraderie and bonds I developed with my fellow “boot-agents.” I genuinely miss the times with those people, and there were only a very limited few supervisors who earned my respect in those days. After nine years, I could take no more. I became another casualty to the problems, the cancer that infects the agency today.
From lack of quality management, to morale, to the hemorrhaging of personnel, the United States Secret
Service is in dire need of major overhaul. With this being one of the most polarizing political atmospheres in our country’s history, the demand for quality protection for our leaders is needed now more than ever, so the timing for the U.S. Secret Service to buckle under its own weight could not be worse.
When Dan told me that he was considering writing this book, I enthusiastically encouraged him to do so. Anyone who knows Dan Bongino tends to use words like character, integrity, and morality when describing him. In our time together as agents in the Baltimore Field Office, it was obvious Dan was a “right and wrong” kind of guy, and not a “black and white” one.
No one, professionally or personally, is better qualified to outline the problems that plague the United States Secret Service today; no one is better qualified to address the issues and offer the right answers to fix those problems.
As I read through Dan’s book, I remembered the reasons why I joined the agency all those years ago, and also why I left. Although it is too late for me, the issues can still be corrected to make it an agency that future young men and women will dedicate their lives to joining and will proudly stay with for their careers; it’s not too late for the U.S. Secret Service to return to its former glory. The road map to do that is in the pages before you, spelled out by the person who knows best how the agency can once again do the right things.
- JASON WELLS, U.S. SECRET SERVICE, 2005-2013
AUTHOR OF OUR PATH TO SAFETY: A U.S. SECRET SERVICE
AGENT’S GUIDE TO CREATING SAFE COMMUNITIES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Secret Service will always be a part of me. They took a chance on me when they hired me as a special agent when I was a young New York City Police officer in my early twenties. I want to extend a sincere debt of gratitude to the working men and women of the Secret Service, who spend countless hours away from their wives, their husbands, their children, their homes, their beds, and their kitchen tables, all for the honor and distinction of sacrificing their lives first to save the life of the president of the United States. There is no nobler mission in federal law enforcement.
I want to thank my wife, Paula, for sticking by my side through the months spent on the road when I was a Secret Service agent, the weeks spent on the road when I was a candidate for public office, and the many days spent holed up in my office, preparing the material for this book. My wife never had it easy in her life. Her story of overcoming hardship on her road to becoming a citizen of this great country has always been a source of inspiration for me. Whenever I think I’m having a tough day, I center myself by remembering the struggles she went through as a child, and everything brightens up around me. I will never love another.
I want to thank my father, John, for always providing an example of what discipline and a commitment to hard work can accomplish, despite the long odds. He has always been the hardest-working man I know. Thank you to my mother-in-law as well for being the truest example I’ve seen of what the uniquely American dream looks like. She’s an inspiration for me and my family.
I want to thank my two daughters, Isabel and Amelia, for filling a hole in my life. My life was all about me before my daughters were born, and lives lived that way are empty and devoid of real meaning. My daughters taught me what real purpose is, and what real love is.
I’d like to thank my brothers, Jim and Joseph, for hearing me out when I needed to vent; my friend and former coworker Brian for being that one true friend we all need; and Maria and Sharon for their advice, friendship, and guidance. Thanks to Senators Mike Lee, Rand Paul, and Ted Cruz for being authentic in a sea of DC counterfeits. Thanks to Congressmen Justin Amash and Louie Gohmert as well for your support in the tough times.
Thank you to Cary Katz for taking a chance on me and to the entire Conservative Review team for inspiring me to continue the fight for our collective principles, even as the obstacles in front of us mounted.
Finally, thank you to Mark Levin and Rich for always being there for me both personally and professionally, and thanks to Sean Hannity, Lynda, Lauren, and Jason for allowing me to be part of your radio family. No matter where I go, I’ll always know where I began. And so will you.
LIST OF ACRONYMS
AOPassault on principle
BATFBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
CATCounter Assault Team
DHSDepartment of Homeland Security
ECTFElectronic Crimes Task Force
ESNelectronic serial number
FLDFirst Lady’s Detail
JJRTCJames J. Rowley Training Center
JOCJoint Operations Center
LEAPLaw Enforcement Availability Pay
MEDMajor Events Division (MED)
NSSENational Special Security Events
OPFORopposition force
PDD-62Presidential Decision Directive 62
PIprotective intelligence
PPDPresidential Protective Division
ROTAtravel rotation
SAICSpecial Agent in Charge
VPPDVice Presidential Protective Division
WHMOWhite House Medical Office
INTRODUCTION
I’VE HAD A LOT OF JOBS. I’ve stocked grocery shelves, delivered newspapers, patrolled crime-ridden streets as an NYPD police officer, consulted on business deals, hosted talk radio shows, hosted a successful podcast, and authored a couple of successful books. I’ve been a student many times, and a teacher a few times, but the position I’ll always be proudest of is that of “Special Agent, United States Secret Service.” Being a United States Secret Service agent is an awesome responsibility. A seasoned Secret Service agent knows how to be a cop, a diplomat, a peacemaker, a counselor, and a bodyguard (although I, and the agents I still call friends, hate that term when describing what the Secret Service does). The Secret Service is a relatively flat organization managerially, and as a result, they operate in a “sink or swim” environment where rank-and-file agents are given a significant amount of responsibility early on in their careers. It’s not uncommon for a new special agent, only months or even days out of the Secret Service training academy, to be charged with designing an impenetrable security plan for a foreign head of state visiting the United States. During the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York City, tens to hundreds of foreign heads of state visit the United Nations in New York City, and they are all the responsibility of the United States Secret Service. But the Secret Service is, at best, a medium-sized federal agency that doesn’t have the luxury of hundreds of thousands of experienced agents to cover every nook and cranny of New York City during the UN General Assembly. As a result, newer agents are forced, every year, to step up to the plate, early in their careers, and hit a security home run. There are no bunts allowed. Those agents who can handle the pressure of keeping the world’s most powerful leaders secure will be the future leaders of the Presidential Protective Division (a Secret Service agents most coveted assignment), and of the Secret Service at large. Those who fail will be stuck investigating counterfeit currency cases out of a Secret Service field office to which no one wanted to be assigned, involving teenagers using mommy’s color printer to create terrible-looking faux hundred-dollar bills, for the rest of their careers.
Being a Secret Service agent is a pressure cooker. But for those men and women who live for the rush of adrenaline that comes with fast motorcades, world travel, big responsibilities, and even bigger threats, it’s the greatest job in the world. When I first joined the Secret Service in 1999 the agency was overflowing with applications, and when I made it through the arduous special agent selection process, I was genuinely surprised. Although I had faith in my abilities, I was convinced that my application was going to be swallowed up by the thousands of applications, from incredibly qualified men and women, the Secret Service was receiving for every special agent opening. I was honored to be a special agent, and the United States Secret Service “special agent” title instantly became part of me. The Secret Service was a proud, successf
ul model government agency in 1999, and it reflected in the relatively high esprit de corps all the way from the upper management of the agency through the administrative staff.
In the early part of my nearly twelve-year career with the Secret Service, I was sent over to Moscow on a temporary investigative assignment. While there, I made friends with the FBI agent who also had an office at the American embassy in Moscow. During one of our many conversations, he was surprised to learn that the Secret Service allowed non-supervisory agents to conduct security advances for the president, vice president, and foreign heads of state. He was also surprised to learn that I was assigned as an instructor at the Secret Service training academy and that I was not a supervisor. He seemed particularly perplexed that I was assigned to the Russian embassy on a prestigious investigative assignment as nothing more than a GS-13 federal agent (Secret Service supervisors are all GS-14 and above). He told me that in the FBI most of the critical investigations, assignments, and FBI Academy instructor positions were filled either by senior special agents, or supervisors. The Secret Service doesn’t work that way. Every special agent, whether a supervisor or not, is expected to be able to handle, on a moment’s notice, an assignment where failure could mean the death of a world leader and a corresponding Archduke Ferdinand-like global crisis.
But the Secret Service is now living through an existential crisis. The overseas scandals, the fence jumpers, the Salahi incident, the stolen laptop, and other organizational black eyes on the agency have created a media, and political, feeding frenzy. Fair or unfair, media outlets smelled the blood in the water and saw the dollar signs from the clickbait headlines about the smallest Secret Service transgression, and they reported on every story no matter how thinly sourced. Some of these stories about the Secret Service were so misleading that the media outlets were forced to alter their headlines because the original reporting was not accurate. Remember the story about the Secret Service agents who “crashed a car into a White House barricade”?1 Did you happen to notice the follow-up stories days after the original reporting, which described the exact same incident as Secret Service agents “nudging” a temporary orange traffic “barrier”?2 Which one was it? Did the agents ‘crash” into a barrier, or did they “nudge” a traffic cone? One of these happened, and one clearly did not. The answer was obvious to anyone who viewed the security video of the incident, which was made public just days after it occurred. But it didn’t matter; the media smelled blood, and they knew that using the word crashed to describe the incident, no matter how ridiculous and sensationalist, would generate eyeballs to their networks and clicks to their websites. It mattered little to these media figures that they destroyed the careers of the two agents involved in the incident, despite both of them having earned reputations as stellar performers and career-long team players. Lawmakers, themselves not immune to the smell of publicity blood in the water, jumped into the fray as well, and they have begun to question everything about the Secret Service, including its need to exist as a separate government agency. After the many crises the Secret Service has faced, a reasonable person would conclude that these incidents would serve as a wake-up call to the upper management of this once-great agency. But according to my many sources within the Secret Service, it’s been largely business as usual, despite the withering media, legislative, and public pressure being put on the agency to evolve and improve.