The Secret Service has been compromised. The agency that swears it would “take a bullet for the president” finds itself embroiled in the controversy that surrounds the events of January 6th.
When asked to provide text messages from that day, the committee investigating the insurrection was told the messages had mysteriously disappeared. They were allegedly erased as phones were being replaced. This suggests they have a loyalty to Donald Trump that makes them incapable of carrying out their assigned duties.
Can the Secret Service be trusted to guard President Biden? Apparently Joe doesn’t think so, which is why he brought in agents who were members of his detail when he was Vice President. For some it was a question of loyalty to Trump while others were refusing to follow mask mandates the Biden administration re-instated following the Omicron resurgence.
Even Trump’s own Vice President questioned the ability of the Secret Service to protect him during the January 6th insurrection. When told he would be driven to safety as pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol, Pence refused to get in the car, as his own security detail said they wanted to remove him from the area. Pence feared they were so loyal to Trump that he would be turned over to the mob, who would either attempt to force him to overturn legitimate election results, or worse, carry out their threat to hang him.
There are so many questions surrounding the integrity of the Secret Service. Can they still be trusted to carry out their assigned duties, or have they too fallen victim to the hyper-partisan rhetoric that threatens to destroy our democracy?
History of the Secret Service
When the Secret Service was founded in 1865, many assume it was a reaction to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In fact, it’s initial mission was to suppress widespread counterfeiting. It wasn’t until the assassination of President McKinley in 1901 that its role changed to protecting the president, vice president and their families.
Since then, the agency has had only a few failures. There was the assassination of President Kennedy, the attempted assassination of President Reagan and two failed attempts to assassinate President Ford, but they have been largely successful in carrying out their duties.
The sight of agents in dark suits and dark glasses became a comforting reminder of their role in protecting the current resident of the Oval Office. Their oath was to protect the office holder and not the individual.
Prior to 1912, former presidents only received Secret Service protection for 10 years. Now, they are entitled for the rest of their lives, meaning those agents most loyal to Donald Trump can remain at his side. That hasn’t prevented the issue of the loyalty of current agents. Some who are still employed by the agency apparently are still allowing their political views to cloud their judgment, which could potentially put at risk those they are supposed to be protecting.
An Agency Run Amok
Recent events have made the once elite agency more akin to the Keystone Cops. Multiple scandals, physical abuse, drug abuse and cover-ups are plaguing what used to be the premier law enforcement agency in the nation. And it’s showing little sign of getting any better.
Mask mandates were ignored, even belittled by Trump, so when President Biden took office, several members of the Secret Service balked or outright refused to follow the rules and had to be re-assigned. While changes are a normal part of a shift in leadership, the outright insubordination of members of the Secret Service is a frightening development. It questions where their loyalties lie.
Trump supporters are quick to point out that he donated his salary to charity; at least that’s what they would have you believe. They conveniently ignore how he regularly overcharged the Secret Service to stay on his own properties, while he pocketed the profits. His adult children regularly followed suit as they vacationed around the world, forcing taxpayers to foot the bill as they enjoyed their lavish lifestyles. The agents became little more than personal assistants to their charges as the line between agents and those they were assigned to protect became more and more blurred as the agents became enamored with the Trumps' way of life.
The agents apparently got used to the carefree lifestyle that epitomized the Trump administration, and it has spilled over to President Biden’s detail. During Biden’s Asia trip, two agents were sent home following a drunken confrontation while off duty in South Korea. During his recent visit to Israel, a Secret Service employee was sent home following a “physical altercation”.
And then there was the revelation that two men impersonated Secret Service agents. Four actual agents, who were assigned to both the presidential and vice presidential details, were suspended for assisting these phonies as they were able to wend their way through what should be a rigorous series of background checks into their criminal history.
Finally, there is the mysterious case of the deleted text messages from January 5th and 6th as the committee investigating the events surrounding the January 6th insurrection sought to corroborate the evidence presented by witnesses who previously testified. The committee was seeking to find evidence of an alleged physical and verbal altercation between Trump and members of his own Secret Service detail.
Despite promises to recover the missing texts, the Secret Service now reports they are not recoverable. While they claim the process happened during a planned replacement of agency phones, it raises suspicion that it’s part of a cover up aimed at shielding Donald Trump from acknowledging that he planned the January 6th insurrection. National Archives characterizes the missing data as a “potential unauthorized deletion”.
The circumstances surrounding the missing texts are reminiscent of the 18 1/2 minute gap in the Watergate tapes. Like Watergate, the story behind how the texts were erased keeps changing. This further casts a shadow on integrity of the agency.
Can the agency that’s supposed to be in charge of protecting the president and his family be trusted, or have they, too, fallen sway to the corruption of the MAGA movement? Recent events tell us to be wary. It’s entirely possible that, like Caesar, President Biden needs to be cautious with those who are supposed to be protecting him.