Post by trueblue on Aug 3, 2022 22:41:20 GMT
'How the Secret Service Handling of Jan. 6 Looks to a Former Agent'
'Since the most recent hearing of the January 6 Committee, a lot of talk has focused on new revelations about Vice President Mike Pence's Secret Service detail—namely, that they were concerned enough while holed up with him inside a Capitol under mob attack that they tried to get in contact with their families to say goodbye. But the role of the Secret Service more generally through those fateful days came under the microscope last week with revelations that the agency has failed to produce text records from January 5 and 6, telling the committee that they were lost in a reset of agency systems. There's also been renewed focus on an agent named Anthony Ornato, who in an unprecedented development transitioned from Trump's security detail to a political role in the White House as deputy chief of staff for operations.
Jim Helminski was with the Secret Service for the better part of three decades, including as special agent in charge of then-Vice President Joe Biden’s protective detail and as deputy assistant director, where he oversaw all 42 domestic field offices. We asked him what exactly he thought was going on here. In a conversation edited below for length and clarity, Helminski offered his view on how Ornato's elevation could have affected how the Service navigated situations like January 6, the delicate balance agents must strike between the personal relationships they have with protectees and their professional duty, and the prospect that at a key juncture in American history, the service had become politically compromised.
Jim Helminski was with the Secret Service for the better part of three decades, including as special agent in charge of then-Vice President Joe Biden’s protective detail and as deputy assistant director, where he oversaw all 42 domestic field offices. We asked him what exactly he thought was going on here. In a conversation edited below for length and clarity, Helminski offered his view on how Ornato's elevation could have affected how the Service navigated situations like January 6, the delicate balance agents must strike between the personal relationships they have with protectees and their professional duty, and the prospect that at a key juncture in American history, the service had become politically compromised.
Have you ever heard of someone moving from the White House detail to a political position in the White House, one day to the next?
No. I was with the Secret Service for 27 years. I was on both Democratic and Republican administrations, I was a supervisor on presidential details, primary supervisor on [then-Vice President] Biden's detail. This was never even thought of or considered in any way, shape or form. It's just unethical and totally unheard of. It politicizes the agency. When you take somebody who's a deputy chief of staff—if this was an organizational chart, that person would have more influence than the director of the U.S. Secret Service. And just the whole Lafayette Park incident is a prime example of that influence. That was not a stellar moment for the U.S. Secret Service.
No. I was with the Secret Service for 27 years. I was on both Democratic and Republican administrations, I was a supervisor on presidential details, primary supervisor on [then-Vice President] Biden's detail. This was never even thought of or considered in any way, shape or form. It's just unethical and totally unheard of. It politicizes the agency. When you take somebody who's a deputy chief of staff—if this was an organizational chart, that person would have more influence than the director of the U.S. Secret Service. And just the whole Lafayette Park incident is a prime example of that influence. That was not a stellar moment for the U.S. Secret Service.