Secret Service Archives

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Director Randolph “Tex” Alles, the head of the U.S. Secret Service, says that while some 1,100 of its agents have already maxed out on their allowable earnings for 2017, the agency is not broke.

According to a statement by Alles, the Secret Service has the funding it needs to meet all current mission requirements for the remainder of the fiscal year, as well as compensating employees for overtime within statutory pay caps.

The drain of resources can be partially attributed to President Donald Trump’s frequent stays at his own resorts, and his extended family’s vacation and business trips.

Between 2011 and 2015, staffing levels at the Secret Service fell by 10%, according to a House Oversight Committee. Last year, the number of agents decreased again by 8% while the burden of protection greatly increased, what with a presidential election campaign, Pope Francis’s visit, and a United Nations General Assembly meeting.

In 2016, Congress passed emergency legislation to retroactively increase the pay cap. The Secret Service appears to be pursuing a similar legislative fix in 2017, while it attempts to hire more agents and more widely distribute its workload.

Trump travel has included trips to his Florida resort home, Mar-a-Lago, his New Jersey golf resort, and Trump Tower in New York. These properties now require a semi-permanent Secret Service infrastructure

The Secret Service’s demands will continue to be higher than ever throughout the Trump administration. Trump’s family and inner circle, which numbers some 42 people, is an increase of 35% over President Obama’s administration.

All five of the Trump children get 24/7 protection from the Secret Service, and the older children (along with their spouses/significant other) are frequent travelers, both domestically and abroad, for business and pleasure.

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On Wednesday, October 1, 2014, Julia A. Pierson resigned as Director of the Secret Service.

Pierson was given the reigns of the agency following a major controversy involving the Secret Service in 2012. That incident was the scandal involving eleven agents engaging with prostitutes while on presidential detail in Cartagena, Columbia. Shortly after that, additional reports of misconduct within the agency flooded the media, involving prostitutes and strippers in El Salvador the prior year.

Now Pierson has resigned following a different sort of disgrace involving the Secret Service… incompetence.

As widely reported, on September 19, 2014, Omar Gonzalez scaled the 7ft. 6 in. fence surrounding the White House, sprinted across the lawn, and entered what should be the most secure building in America. Entering through an unlocked front door, Gonzalez was eventually tackled by Secret Service agents and arrested. A search revealed that Gonzalez was carrying a knife. Since the intrusion, the Secret Service and Pierson have been under fire, both in the media and the Capitol.

Initial reports were that an intruder breached the White House fence and lawn and was captured before entering the building. But as more information was made available about the incident, it was revealed that Gonzalez entered the building and made it through multiple rooms before getting caught.

On September 30, before she tendered her resignation, Pierson faced a hearing with the House oversight committee. Angry committee members rebuked the then-director for her agency’s ineffectiveness, and even more so for Pierson’s attempt to down-play the incident.

“The more I learn, the worse it is, and that scares me,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said. “Misleading people to say that he [Gonzalez] didn’t make it very far into the White House, that’s just unacceptable. What they put out there was factually untrue, misleading and inaccurate.”

At the hearing, Pierson accepted the blame for the lapse in security, and promised to order a full investigation. The next day she resigned.

The Secret Service is currently being led by acting-director Joseph Clancy, who served as the head of the agency’s presidential protection division before retiring in 2011. Hopefully Clancy, one of President Clinton’s former jogging mates, can whip the agency back into shape.

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