I sat next to Carl Bernstein throughout Watergate…– Ronald Kessler
I sat next to Carl Bernstein throughout Watergate, and Woodward would come over, and they would argue everything out, so I was really tuned into what happened.
To become a Secret Service agent…– Ronald Kessler
To become a Secret Service agent, applicants must pass a polygraph exam. But after being hired, agents are never required to undergo regular lie detector testing again.
To reform the Secret Service…– Ronald Kessler
To reform the Secret Service, the agency needs a director from outside the agency who will be immune from that culture and not beholden to entrenched bureaucrats within the agency.
I have one anecdote about the FBI breaking into an …– Ronald Kessler
I have one anecdote about the FBI breaking into an embassy in Washington, and under Hoover, they had this sort of ruse whereby they didn’t want to recommend a break-in that might be a big flap and cause all kinds of problems.
On a regular basis, to appease White House or …– Ronald Kessler
On a regular basis, to appease White House or campaign staffs, Secret Service officials order agents to ignore basic security rules and let people into events without being put through a magnetometer or metal detector.
With the selection of Acting Secret Service …– Ronald Kessler
With the selection of Acting Secret Service Director Joseph P. Clancy as the director, President Obama has guaranteed that the agency will continue to lurch from one shocking security failure to another.
Agents who have left the Secret Service to join …– Ronald Kessler
Agents who have left the Secret Service to join other federal law enforcement agencies report that training in firearms and counterterrorism tactics in those agencies in many cases far exceeds the quality of what the Secret Service offered.
Incredibly, whenever I have proposed the theory …– Ronald Kessler
Incredibly, whenever I have proposed the theory that half of government workers could be cut, current and former federal employees I know have all agreed.
Complex man that he was…– Ronald Kessler
Complex man that he was, J. Edgar Hoover left nothing to chance. The director shrewdly recognized that building what became known as the world’s greatest law enforcement agency would not necessarily keep him in office.
As the Marine One helicopter lifts off from the …– Ronald Kessler
As the Marine One helicopter lifts off from the White House, the Prowler team watches for snipers. The team also responds to any threat that may arise at the White House itself.