Original subtitles

>> NARRATOR: They are an elite

force.

Brave men and women who put

their lives on the line.

(shouting)

>> JULIA PIERSON: Failure's not

an option.

You have to be perfect 100%

of the time.

>> NARRATOR: Their mission--

to guard the most powerful

person in the world.

>> RALPH BASHAM: This is serious

business.

It is about the safety and

security of the United States.

>> NARRATOR: But just who are

these American heroes?

And what is their secret

mission?

>> BARBARA GOLDEN: We're known

for protection and the guys with

the sunglasses and

the trench coats.

But we also investigate crimes.

>> RALPH BASHAM: There's a lot

more to the Secret Service

and its mission than

what people see on TV.

>> NARRATOR: There are those who

believe in the existence of a

book.

A book that contains the most

highly guarded secrets of the

United States of America.

A book whose very existence is

known to only a select few.

But if such a book exists,

what would it contain?

Secret missions?

Secret technologies?

Secret threats?

Does there really exist

America's Book of Secrets?

April 20, 2012.

Cartagena, Colombia.

The United States Secret Service

faces a firestorm of controversy

after agents on President Barack

Obama's advance team are caught

in a highly publicized

prostitution scandal.

One dozen Secret Service agents

are sent home when one allegedly

refuses to pay one of the

several female prostitutes they

had invited to their hotel.

White House officials quickly

attempt damage control in an

effort to preserve the dignity

of the agency.

>> JAY CARNEY: The President has

confidence in the director of

the Secret Service. Uh, Director

Sullivan acted quickly, uh, in

response to this incident and is

overseeing an investigation as

we speak into the matter.

>> MARC AMBINDER: The reason why

the incident in Cartagena was so

embarrassing for the Secret

Service was, it became an

international news story

overnight.

Whatever the president was doing

at the Summit of the Americas

was completely eclipsed

by this embarrassment that the

Secret Service itself created

and was responsible for.

>> DAN EMMETT: The actual

unwritten codes within the

Secret Service are really

applicable to common sense.

Don't embarrass the Secret

Service.

Don't embarrass this country.

Don't embarrass the president.

>> DANNY SPRIGGS: The Cartagena

incident was an unfortunate

situation, and one in which I

believe actually put a stain on

the Secret Service, its mission,

as well as its personnel.

>> NARRATOR: Is it possible

there is something about a

Secret Service agent's

psychological profile,

especially those charged with

protecting the president, that

motivates them to act in a way

that challenges the upstanding,

all-American image of the Secret

Service that the public

imagines?

>> MANCOW MULLER: Look, these

are these are hard-core

individuals-- they work hard

and they play hard.

I think the Secret Service has

one of the most intense jobs.

I-I can't imagine how intense it

is, and I think they need to let

off steam.

But, uh, if they're leaving

secret files around, that's a

problem.

>> NARRATOR: But while wild and,

some would argue, politically

incorrect behavior may

occasionally be exhibited by

other government employees and

law enforcement officials, is

there another reason why the

Secret Service's behavior in

Colombia was so particularly

shocking?

Could it be that the agency's

position-- as the guardians of

the president of the United

States and his family-- requires

that the character of the Secret

Service must be even more

exemplary, more so than any

other law enforcement agency in

the nation?

>> AMBINDER: You can argue that

you should hold them to higher

standards because the job that

they have chosen freely-- the

responsibility that we,

collectively, as a country, have

given them-- is so great that

they just have to hold

themselves to higher standards.

They have to let go of the

temptations that most people

would fall and succumb to.

>> SPRIGGS: A Secret Service

agent or officer should never

put themselves in a position

where they could be

compromised-- either through

extortion or other means-- to

reveal classified information,

sensitive information, or

operational procedures.

And so, therefore it does, in

certain situations, present that

kind of image to the public--

that security has been

compromised, which could result

in the life of a president.

>> BARBARA GOLDEN: The scandal

that the Secret Service went

through, unfortunately, was a

sexy story for the media.

We are elite and I think a lot

of people do still believe in

that, um, because of what we do.

But in any organization you're

gonna have a knucklehead that

brings negative impact on the

whole agency, and that's what

happened in this case.

>> NARRATOR: But the scandal in

Cartagena was not the end of the

troubles facing the Secret

Service.

Over the next two years, agents

continued to make shocking

headlines, prompting many to

wonder if there was something

going terribly wrong within the

agency.

And if so, should the American

public be concerned?

>> RALPH BASHAM: Well, perhaps

there is a problem in the Secret

Service.

I don't think it is a

deep-rooted problem, but there

are people who are problems in

the Secret Service.

>> STEVE MONTEIRO: No

organization can ever completely

defend itself against individual

acts of misconduct.

At the end of the day, we hire

human beings and human beings

make mistakes.

>> NARRATOR: According to many

health professionals, stress

could be a major factor in

recent incidents of agent

misconduct.

It could also be a key reason

why many agents decide to quit

the force altogether.

On the outside, agents portray a

tough, professional exterior.

Maintaining composure while

under constant pressure.

But what is life really like for

these highly trained operatives?

What are the secrets cloaked

behind the stoic glances, iconic

sunglasses, and keenly pressed

suits?

>> DAN BONGINO: I've seen people

frustrated.

I've seen people upset.

You know, it's okay to kind of

yell and scream once in a while

but at the end of the day, you

are gonna secure this man's

life, no matter what.

So either get it done or move

on and find a new job.

>> EMMETT: Some people have

requested transfer because of

the stress.

Continuous travel, up to 30, 35

days at a time without any

days off, continually changing

shifts, day shift, evening

shift, midnight shifts.

>> BASHAM: When you're off,

you're not really off.

I mean, you can be called 24

hours a day, seven days a week.

And you've got to respond.

>> NARRATOR: From agents in the

field on the Presidential

Protective Division to those on

the Emergency Response Team who

guard the White House grounds,

every representative of the

Secret Service is expected to

carry out their duties

flawlessly.

>> JULIA PIERSON: Whether you're

getting close to making an

arrest or you're making

decisions about, uh, public

movement around our president or

any of our protectees, it's a

very difficult time.

Failure is not an option, and so

you have to be perfect 100%

of the time.

I think that would be very

demanding on anyone in any

career.

>> NARRATOR: While most agents

are well equipped to deal with

the heavy demands that come with

the job, some, sadly, cannot

handle the pressure.

>> BASHAM: We've had,

unfortunately, a number of

agents who have literally taken

their own life because the

stress of the job.

Uh, and its impact on the

family.

Law enforcement is just a very

demanding, very stressful job.

So, yeah, suicide is

unfortunately, uh, you know,

sort of the dark side of the

job.

>> NARRATOR: Are the pressures

of being a Secret Service agent

too intense?

Are the rigid standards they

have to meet simply too high?

And, if so, is the agency's

ability to fill the ranks of

this historically elite force in

jeopardy?

>> NARRATOR: Each year the

United States Secret Service

receives thousands of

applications for only a few

hundred available positions.

In fact, in 2011, only one

percent of the over 15,000 who

applied to become special

agents were accepted.

But with such a large pool of

applicants to choose from, just

how does the Secret Service

decide who gets an invitation to

join this elite force and who

gets rejected?

>> PIERSON: The Secret Service

has about 3,300 special agents

and about 1,400 uniformed

division officers serving in a

protective capacity every day.

We have offices in most of the

major cities across the United

States and about 40 offices

outside of this country.

>> EMMETT: When a person applies

to become an agent with the

United States Secret Service,

they are entering into the

mother of all vetting processes.

It goes on for about 12 months,

assuming that everything goes

according to plan.

>> NARRATOR: First, an applicant

must pass an extensive

background check that includes

scouring their finances.

An agent with significant debt

is considered greater risk.

Applicants must also pass the

dreaded polygraph test.

>> EMMETT: It's just simply to

find out, one, are you a

criminal?

Two, are you a spy sent to

infiltrate the Secret Service?

>> BONGINO: It was probably the

worst eight hours of my life.

When I got on, I think they were

eliminating nine out of ten

people.

It's very, very hard to cheat a

Secret Service polygraph.

>> MONTEIRO: A disqualification

could be someone lying about

perhaps their criminal history.

It could be their drug usage.

It could be employment

activities.

For example, they've been fired

and tried to hide that from us.

>> NARRATOR: But it is not just

the prospective agents who are

under the microscope during the

arduous application process.

Their acceptance into the elite

group also depends on the

competence of their family.

>> EMMETT: One of the final

phases of the vetting process is

the home visits.

This is when a seasoned senior

agent will visit the home of the

applicant, interview the

applicant along with the spouse

and try and explain to them how

difficult this job really is.

And if, uh, the other side of

the relationship can't deal with

that, you're gonna have a

very unhappy agent, therefore a

very unproductive agent.

>> NARRATOR: After enduring

almost one year of interviews

and tests, those men and women

accepted as trainees will spend

their first three months at the

Federal Law Enforcement Training

Center in Glynco, Georgia.

After which, those who make the

cut will move on to the James J.

Rowley Center in Beltsville,

Maryland.

There, trainees endure another

18 weeks of intense hands-on

instruction on everything from

investigative techniques to

physical protection tactics,

marksmanship and even water

survival skills.

>> BASHAM: You go through

another several months of very

specific training that deals

with the Secret Service's

mission set.

That, too, can be extremely

demanding on individuals, and

people don't make it through.

>> NARRATOR: But just how well

do these training scenarios

really prepare agents to survive

real-world threats?

>> BASHAM: There are mock street

scenes, and they run through

every scenario.

Any day they may be blowing up

cars, or there may be motorcades

that are being attacked.

They try to develop as best they

can a realistic set of scenarios

where your body trains, your

mind trains.

At the end of the day, that can

save your life or the lives of

others.

>> NARRATOR: What sets the

Secret Service apart from many

other law enforcement agencies

is that its trainees are taught

how to take a bullet by using

their bodies as human shields.

>> SPRIGGS: On March 30, 1981,

I was present during the

attempted assassination by John

Hinckley against President

Reagan.

(gunshots)

Tim McCarthy, the agent who

received a wound to the abdomen

as a result of that incident,

clearly put himself in the line

of fire.

That's the sacrifice that you

have to be willing to make to

become a Secret Service agent.

>> NARRATOR: But, believe it or

not, once recruits become sworn

in as agents, they do not start

off on the coveted Presidential

Protective Division, or PPD,

right away.

New agents must first spend

about six years in

investigations and temporary

protection before they can even

be considered for PPD, and that

highly coveted assignment

involves even more rigorous

training.

And before an agent is even

allowed behind the wheel of the

tank-like presidential limo

known as Cadillac One or the

Beast, they must also pass a

series of unique driving tests.

>> EMMETT: PODC is the

Protective Operations Driving

Course, and before an agent is

qualified to drive the president

of the United States in an

armored limo, they first must

graduate PODC.

>> BONGINO: Learning how to

drive the president's limo is

like learning how to slalom with

a tractor trailer.

I mean, that's how difficult it

is.

The driving course is meant to

really induce stress.

Driving like that, under high

speeds with a sweat in a

90-degree temperature day and

the sweat's coming into your

eyes, yeah, it's intense.

>> NARRATOR: But no matter how

realistic or challenging an

agent's training is, nothing can

adequately prepare them for the

real-world events that will test

their skills day by day, minute

by minute and second by second,

especially when it comes to

guarding the life of the most

powerful person in the world.

>> NARRATOR: November 22, 1963.

Dallas, Texas.

Along the presidential parade

route, sniper shots fired from a

nearby building turn an

otherwise uneventful afternoon

into a day of terror.

(people screaming)

In a split-second, President

John F. Kennedy is struck and

killed.

And this single moment becomes a

game changer for how the United

States Secret Service will

forever guard the life of the

president of the United States.

>> PETRO: In President Kennedy's

assassination, we learned about

paying more attention to the

high ground and to buildings.

In 1972, George Wallace was shot

in a rope line, and I think we

learned a lot about how to do

rope lines better.

And then, just a couple years

later, Squeaky Fromme tried to

shoot President Ford.

And then, of course, President

Reagan's assassination attempt,

we learned the importance of

cover and evacuate.

But I think the overriding

concept that is true in every

one of those circumstances is

proximity, being close enough to

react.

>> PIERSON: There are many

things that the Secret Service

has done to adapt protection in

an evolving society.

I don't think many Americans

understand the complexity that

goes into securing the president

of the United States.

It's more than just fencing the

White House.

It's air security.

It's cyber security.

It's biological, chemical and

nuclear detection elements that

we have to employ to ensure a

safe environment for the

president anywhere he travels,

whether it's in the United

States or around the world.

>> NARRATOR: March 28, 2010.

Bagram, Afghanistan.

Managing the movement of United

States President Barack Obama--

codenamed "Renegade"-- and his

White House entourage is no

small task, especially when it

is a secret trip into a war

zone.

>> BONGINO: Moving people,

moving weapons, moving bodies,

moving equipment thousands of

miles overseas in a very

distinct block of time, very

short block of time, is

extremely difficult.

Most people would never have to

think about the crazy things we

have to think about when we're

doing an advance.

Tactical, medical, chem-bio,

IED, airborne and fire.

If you can take care of those

big six threats, the president

is going to go home safe.

(sirens blaring)

>> NARRATOR: Although most

presidential movements are

heavily planned out in

anticipation of an attempted

assassination, threats could lie

in wait any day, at any time,

anywhere.

So can the president of the

United States do anything that's

really spontaneous?

>> MONTEIRO: OTRs are referred

to as off-the-record movements,

and that is where one of our

protectees-- for example, the

president-- would decide to go

some place at the last minute,

off the schedule.

>> BONGINO: Not everything is as

spontaneous as it looks.

Even spontaneity requires some

degree of planning.

>> NARRATOR: During the George

H.W. Bush administration,

William Kristol served as chief

of staff to Vice President Dan

Quayle and witnessed firsthand

how agents adapted to unplanned

situations.

>> WILLIAM KRISTOL: At times

the vice president would see

something and say, "Why don't we

stop there?"

And the Secret Service agent

would say, "Ooh, Mr. Vice

President, we'd kind of planned

on a different place half a

mile away."

But, of course, no one likes to

be told exactly where to go 24

hours a day, and so they would

scramble and make it work.

When the Secret Service works

well, which it does, you know,

98% of the time, no one notices

it.

>> DAN QUAYLE: The Secret

Service know exactly what to do.

I had this one Secret Service

agent, and every time right

before I'd go out and make a

speech, and he'd say, "Okay,

now, if some attack happens,

make sure you get down behind

the podium, because it's

bulletproof."

And I said, "Well, that's really

not the last words I want to

hear before I'm gonna be making

a major speech.

Can you please tell me that,

like, 30 minutes ahead of time?"

But it was in his marching

orders to make sure that the

vice president knew what to do

in case of a... a situation

arose.

>> NARRATOR: To those under the

protection of the Secret

Service, the orders from agents

may seem overbearing.

But the sacrifice of personal

space and privacy is really for

their own good and that of the

nation.

Especially when the types of

threats being faced are

ever-changing and rarely made

public.

>> GOLDEN: The president

routinely receives threats

daily.

It could be in the form of an

e-mail, it could be in the form

of a verbal threat, it could be

a letter, it could be on a chat

room.

But once the Secret Service is

made aware of those threats, we

do physically go locate the

person and do our assessment.

>> PETRO: I was in Intelligence

Division, and I was supervising

the duty desk at 2:00 in the

morning, and someone called

the White House and started

threatening the president.

We had this guy on the phone,

and kept talking to him, and we

traced the call to a phone booth

in Minneapolis or someplace.

Someone else is calling the

police.

I'm still talking to him on the

phone, and he's threatening the

president, and you could hear

the knock on the phone booth,

and it was the police, arresting

him.

(sirens blaring)

The Secret Service is in the

business of preventing things

from happening.

>> NARRATOR: But although

protecting the life of the

president, the vice president

and their families may always be

at the forefront of the U.S.

Secret Service's mission to

serve and protect, agents also

have another, even more secret

mission.

And this one protects all

Americans, not just from people

wielding guns and bombs, but

from those whose sinister plans

may involve little more than ink

and paper.

>> NARRATOR: December, 2013.

Target, one of America's largest

retailers, is hit by a crippling

credit card breech.

More than 70 million customer

accounts are attacked,

compromising card data and

personal information.

Much to the public's surprise,

it is the Department of Justice

and the Secret Service that are

charged with investigating the

financial criminal case,

described as one of the worst

security incidents in United

States history.

>> GOLDEN: We're known for

protection, and the guys with

the sunglasses and the trench

coats.

But we also investigate crimes,

credit card theft, fraud,

identity theft, treasury check

forgeries, counterfeit money,

counterfeit credit cards.

>> PIERSON: Our investigative

mission dates back to 1865 with

counterfeiting during the Civil

War.

Over a third of the money in

circulation was counterfeit at

the time.

President Lincoln, oddly enough,

saw the importance of ensuring

that there was a federal

investigative team that was able

to help combat counterfeiting.

It was named the Secret Service.

>> NARRATOR: In an unmarked

building in Washington, D.C.,

the Secret Service hides an

arsenal of state-of-the-art

technology to combat much more

than just financial crimes.

The Forensic Services division

houses a laboratory with

highly restricted vaults, each

containing secret technologies

used to protect American

citizens.

>> MONTEIRO: The laundry list of

things that we do in the

investigative side of the house

is pretty comprehensive, and

they go everything from fraud

cases to murder cases to child

exploitation cases.

>> PIERSON: I don't think most

Americans are aware of the

unique forensic capabilities of

the United States Secret

Service, as it relates to

counterfeit currency,

questioned documents, and some

of the other tools that we need

to do our important mission.

They include everything from

handwriting analysis to voice

recognition to specimen notes

dating back to 1865.

>> NARRATOR: Behind this door is

a vault that stores evidence of

currency counterfeiting that

only Stuart Tryon, the Assistant

Special Agent in Charge of

Investigations-- and a select

few of his colleagues-- can

access.

>> STUART TRYON: This is the

only agency in the U.S.

government that can verify

authenticity of currency.

And we are the only agency in

the U.S. government that has a

counterfeit vault.

We have one sample of every

bill, every note, every bank

note that existed since 1865

that we've investigated.

>> PIERSON: Today, with inkjet

printers and the simplicity of

being able to use scanning

technology, I think more people

are tempted to try

counterfeiting than ever before.

>> TRYON: Each note has a

fingerprint, if you will.

Each note has a history.

We research the paper, we

research the ink.

We look for the raised printing,

the intaglio printing.

We look for the offset.

We also look in the quality of

the actual note.

We compare that with a genuine.

This is where the buck truly

stops.

>> NARRATOR: Just down the hall

from the counterfeit vault is a

high-tech latent fingerprint

lab, where specialists use the

most up-to-date chemicals and

technology to extract

fingerprints that are nearly

impossible to detect by most

other forensics labs.

>> ANTHONY CLAY: We investigate

a lot of, um, financial crimes,

so with that we receive a lot of

porous-type items, such as

counterfeit bills, counterfeit

checks, counterfeit money.

And also threatening letters

against the president.

Latent fingerprint technology is

the ability to make fingerprints

left on a crime scene visible.

The word "latent" simply means

"hidden."

>> NARRATOR: The capabilities of

the Forensic Services division

are so advanced that the agency

has been called on to testify in

some of the nation's most

notorious cases.

The technology here is used not

only to solve criminal cases

against U.S. citizens, but one

secret method in particular is

most prominently used to protect

the president.

>> MONTEIRO: When I was the

director of the Forensic

Services division, I was

particularly proud of the FISH

system.

And FISH is an acronym for the

Forensic Information System for

Handwriting, which is the only

kind of system in the world that

helps us to identify writing

samples.

>> TRISTA GINSBERG: This is a

computer program which was

developed by the United States

Secret Service, modeled after a

program which was previously

used by the German Federal

Police.

This is a computer program which

only the Secret Service has

access to.

>> MONTEIRO: We would take the

height of a letter, uh, the

spacing of a letter, and this

would all go into algorithms

which would sort of give us a

profile of this particular

sample of handwriting.

We would then take that and

compare that to the thousands of

samples that we have in our

database.

>> NARRATOR: If there is a

potential handwriting match, the

program will generate a list of

candidates who may have authored

the threat.

>> GINSBERG: We have had over

300 FISH hits and were able to

identify that the same person

did writitose letters.

>> MONTEIRO: A perfect example

was a case that happened in New

York.

They had received a threat

letter to blow up the subway

systems in New York.

And the, uh, joint terrorism

task force faxed a copy of the

letter to my office, and within

one hour we told them who wrote

the letter using the FISH

system.

>> NARRATOR: But while the

Secret Service works behind

the scenes to safeguard the

financial security of the nation

and the personal safety of the

president of the United States,

they are also involved in other

even more secret operations.

And some are so well hidden,

they happen right in front of

the public...

but completely out of sight.

>> MAN: Police!

>> OFFICER: Police with a

warrant, open the door!

>> NARRATOR: On March 16, 2012,

19 people are arrested in nine

states.

They are charged with being part

of a criminal organization that

buys and sells personal and

financial information.

Dubbed Operation Open Market,

the sting was successful largely

due to a Secret Service agent

working undercover, distributing

fake IDs that could later be

traced to their buyers.

>> BASHAM: There's a lot more to

the Secret Service and its

mission than what people may

just, you know, see on TV.

It's the day-to-day gathering

intelligence, of working the

information that's really sort

of what the Secret Service agent

does.

>> PIERSON: We've also had them

perform undercover assignments.

So you're never really sure

where a Secret Service agent

can be found.

We spend a lot of time ensuring

that they can assimilate into

any assignment that we've given

them throughout the world.

>> GOLDEN: I did go undercover

for a counterfeit investigation.

The source was working with the

bad guy-- or the target-- and

that source would introduce me

to the target.

I was playing a girlfriend to

the source and being in the room

where you could hear what's

going on.

So, what I learned in their

conversation I just took back to

the case agent, and he would

make a decision on how to move

forward.

>> NARRATOR: But it is not just

the agents involved in criminal

investigations that work

undercover.

Agents on protective detail

often dress as everything from

tourists and joggers to everyday

citizens in their efforts to

avoid detection and simply blend

in.

May 19, 2013.

Atlanta, Georgia.

During President Barack Obama's

commencement speech to the

graduating class of Morehouse

College, a Secret Service agent

quietly and discreetly protects

the nation's leader while in

complete disguise.

>> PIERSON: I think you would be

surprised to see that we've had

Secret Service agents on the

stage during commencement

exercises dressed in graduation

gowns.

We've had them participating in

picnics and sporting events

dressed as participants.

>> AMBINDER: If the Secret

Service distracts from what

people are looking at at a

particular event, they're in a

sense distracting from the job

of the politician.

And the job of the politician,

after all, is what really

affects us.

There's a direct link between

their desire to be unobtrusive

and guarded and the smooth

functioning of democracy.

>> NARRATOR: October 30, 2001.

Yankee Stadium, New York.

President George W. Bush throws

out the first pitch in game

three of the World Series.

Planted in the stadium are

several Secret Service agents

scanning the crowd for potential

threats.

>> BONGINO: The World Series

game where President Bush threw

out the first pitch, we had one

of our guys dress up as-as an

umpire.

>> SPRIGGS: You always want to

try to maintain a 360-degree

coverage of your protectee.

And so therefore you find

yourself, uh, having to be

placed inside the crowd.

>> EMMETT: The agents generally

dress in accordance to the way

the president is dressing to

wherever he's going.

If the president is going for a

run, which President Clinton

frequently did, and President

Bush, then the agents go in

running gear.

They at least try and blend in

as far as the dresses around

them.

>> SPRIGGS: In the event that

the president is going to be

playing golf, you wouldn't want

to be in a three-piece suit.

It's twofold.

It's, uh, first, you're bringing

attention unto yourself.

And then, two, if there was

anybody that had ill will in

mind, they would clearly

identify you as the security

component.

>> NARRATOR: But while many

agents dress to avoid detection,

there are some who deliberately

want their presence known.

They believe that by being

obvious, they can act as a

deterrent and thus prevent an

attack on the person they have

been assigned to protect.

>> PETRO: One of the highlights

of my career was the opportunity

to be the agent in charge of the

visit of Pope John Paul II to

the United States.

I got to be very close with the

Pope's chief of staff and the

Pope's head of Vatican security.

We were having dinner one night,

and they said, "Would you

consider dressing as a priest?"

And I said, "Absolutely not.

I want the public to know I am a

Secret Service agent and I am

here to protect the Pope."

But having said that, it doesn't

mean that we didn't have some

agents dressed as priests.

>> NARRATOR: But while the

Secret Service works tirelessly

to prevent the ever-present

threats that come from the

outside, might there be an even

greater threat?

One that comes from within?

>> NARRATOR: Federal agencies

such as the FBI, the CIA and the

NSA have all had spies or double

agents that have leaked

classified information.

Yet the Secret Service claims

that in its almost 150-year

history, the agency has not had

one traitor in its midst.

But how could it be possible

that not a single person has

ever infiltrated the

organization?

>> EMMETT: Every five years, an

agent undergoes a background

reinvestigation.

Part of that reinvestigation is

looking at the person's finances

in terms of unexplainable

affluence.

If an agent's making $80,000

a year but is living in a

$1 million house with a Ferrari,

something is probably not right.

And so the Secret Service wants

to know, where's that money

coming from?

>> AMBINDER: The Secret Service

keeps pretty close tabs on its

agents.

But, look, the nightmare

scenario exists.

No one can say that it will

never happen.

If you just think about it on a

basic level, you are allowing a

bunch of extremely

highly-trained Americans with

guns right next to the

president.

>> MULLER: If a traitor ever

infiltrated the Secret Service,

the worst-case scenario is a

dead president.

I hope it never happens.

>> NARRATOR: Although the notion

of a Secret Service agent

turning rogue seems unthinkable,

some critics believe it is only

a matter of time before the high

standards of the agency become

compromised, especially in an

age of so-called political

correctness.

March 27, 2013.

11 months after the prostitution

scandal in Cartagena, Julia

Pierson, the first female

director of the United States

Secret Service, takes the oath

of office.

>> AMBINDER: The Secret Service,

like every other law enforcement

agency, has adjusted to the

reality of women who are rising

in the ranks.

If you're thinking of this frat

boy culture within the Secret

Service, if it does exist now,

it won't exist in ten years.

>> BASHAM: The new director is

taking some steps that is going

to go a long way in changing the

attitudes of certain people who

think that they are above the

organization or the White House.

You can't go out and do

something that's going to

damage the reputation of a

organization that I think is one

of the best law enforcement

organizations in the world.

>> NARRATOR: But as witnesses to

some of the most important

decision-making moments in

history, are today's agents

really willing to take the

secrets they have been entrusted

with to their graves?

Can their honesty and integrity

really be taken for granted?

>> SPRIGGS: It's an honor to be

on the front row seat of history

when you're assigned to the

Presidential Protective

Division.

You could fill libraries with

the secrets of the Secret

Service.

>> GOLDEN: During campaigns, we

protect the candidates.

And my first candidate was Jesse

Jackson.

There are things I heard in the

limousine and interacted with

him that I would keep private.

You are sworn to secrecy, no

matter who it is.

>> KRISTOL: On Air Force Two,

for example, there'd be very

classified briefings, obviously.

And often there'd be an agent

who would be privy to such

information because he'd be

standing in the room.

And we never even gave a

thought, actually, to the fact

that that would be a problem,

and it never was.

>> BASHAM: This is serious

business.

It is about the safety and

security of the United States.

The Secret Service motto is

"Worthy of Trust and

Confidence."

And it just becomes a part of

your religion in the

organization.

>> NARRATOR: Given the

ever-changing threats facing

today's world, the Secret

Service stands ready to combat

any sinister plot against the

White House, the nation and the

American public.

>> PIERSON: The challenges for

protection of the president are

gonna continue to grow.

The types of threats against our

financial infrastructure and

other core critical

infrastructure for this country,

as it becomes more easily

accessed and maintained by cyber

networks, are going to be more

vulnerable than ever.

So we'll continue to grow and

adapt and meet each of these

evolving threats.

>> NARRATOR: For nearly 150

years, the United States Secret

Service has been highly regarded

as one of the most elite law

enforcement agencies in the

world.

They have quietly stood guard

everywhere from the gates of the

White House and top secret

laboratories to undercover

field operations and alongside

the president of the United

States.

But what of the future?

Will the brave men and women of

the Secret Service continue to

dedicate their lives in order to

protect the security of a

nation?

And in an age of tell-all books

and social media, can they

really be trusted to keep the

contents of America's Book of

Secrets to themselves?

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