This is a tough record of an event of” The Federalist Radio Hour” featuring top election journalist Matt Kittle and Ken Valentine, a former Secret Service agent and author of the book Cheating Death: Three-Time Presidential Secret Service Agent Lives To Show You How. Talk to” Retired Secret Service Agent Weighs In On Trump Assassination Test” here.
Matt Kittle: I ca n’t think of a more pertinent conversation to have at this time. This guide provides a unique insight into a deliberately hidden world. Ken, thank you so much for joining us on” The Federalist Radio Hour”.
Matt Valentine: Matt, I’m going to suggest it’s a joy to be with you, even though the word “pretty” is not very appropriate at the moment. It’s fast and suitable to be with you because we were so close to no cheating on the Secret Service when the book was released in April. Bless you.
MK: These are incredibly frightening days, and what we saw on Saturday in Pennsylvania is even more terrifying. I keep hearing the word “miracle” over and over again when I’m covering the Republican National Committee agreement. I do n’t think it’s hyperbole. I believe that the extraordinary sequence of events prevented the former president and the GOP nominee for president from suffering serious harm or being killed, which is indeed what the criminal intended to accomplish around. It seems to me that the U.S. Secret Service completely failed in this case, and many others are asking the same questions. As a past representative, what say you?
KV: Also, first of all, I think that God almighty and Jesus Christ had a finger in that circumstance and that He had saved President Trump. And I’m appreciative of him for that. With respect to failing, it’s difficult not to use the word “failure” when the people you’ve been given the vision and the opportunity and the responsibility to protect is whisked off the level bleeding from a gunshot wound. So there is a sense of disappointment. The Secret Service’s goal is to prevent, thwart, and ensure that these things do n’t happen, by using prevention, plan A. Plan B is emotion. However, emotion often moves more quickly than action. And so, in my opinion, what you saw in the response was truly remarkable. That is what I did. In my 24-year career, I worked as a defense agent for three different presidents. You were trained specifically like we did. I think the word “heroic” is appropriate to describe the emotion from the change working former President Trump. To handle and then remove while bullets are still in the atmosphere and to jump off. They followed the instruction instructions exactly. But this should have been prevented, and there’s no problem, that there is some there with respect to what problems happened. It wo n’t take me long to figure out what the agreed-upon plan was before it failed to live up to the expectations or was not followed.
In a piece this week that he wrote for The Federalist criticizing the Secret Service, my boss, Sean Davis, does n’t hold back — he rarely does. But more than that, what he sees as a starving of assets from the Biden Administration to adequately fund the company to begin with. But, it’s not just about what happened that day, but what has, in Sean’s opinion, happened in recent months and for a long time because it involves a former senator. He states:
” They kept the top available. They did nothing but watched the gunman. Trump was kept on the step by them. And they did n’t do a damn thing until after he had been shot in the head. And we’re supposed to assume that it was just an honest oopsie”?
Mach: He is not the only one who has these issues. What do you think about that?
KV: At this point, I believe that the internal letter, in which the DHS Secretary tells the Secret Service Director, “you have our full help with all the resources that you need to complete the mission, the distinctive mission of protecting the people that you’re assigned to protect, including the original president,” is what I’m looking for, and I’ll say rudely awaiting a response to, is what I’m looking for. And do n’t worry about the money; concentrate on the mission. Make it your goal and get it done”. And I have a suspicion that the letter is inaccessible. If there were calling for sources that were noted, then that is unquestionably one of the biggest problems that will result from this, in my opinion.
With respect to the top, that’s a harder phone. It’s undoubtedly a question, and it’s simple to ask,” Why was n’t the rooftop protected?” I would prefer not to have anyone on that top. That there would be one preventing people from getting near the developing. That you would n’t be able to climb to the top because an officer on the top is extremely vulnerable, and I want to have him or her down with partners to ensure that nobody approaches that top. Before the shooter actually left his car or approached that tower, there is technology that could have reminded law enforcement and the Secret Service to the presence of explosives in his car and a stored AR-15 publication. And so molecular resonance would have done that and we’re going to have to incorporate that into the mix. Molecular resonance would have greatly improved the security process because it has always relied on people to do it. However, there are so many other better ways to do it right now.
You’ve worked to secure three presidents, MK. Who are those presidents? Have you worked or known Ms. Cheatle for the Secret Service?
In his final year in office, President Bill Clinton and I were friends. And when I was there, it was a five-year assignment. When President George W. Bush arrived, I was there, and I stayed with him for four years. Ironically, that is the book’s cover because his inauguration, which was his second one, was on my last day there. And then I went back as a supervisor right as President Obama came into office. I have a friend named Kim Cheatle as one of my friends, and he was in charge. She was my boss when I returned to D.C. the last time as the special agent in charge of the dignitary protective division, and she served as the assistant director at the time over protective operations.
MK: What do you say of her assertions that she did not want an agent, or agents, up on the rooftop, it was sloped? The idea was that someone might get hurt on the rooftop with a slope. That statement has received a lot of criticism.
KV: I think you can look at where our snipers were, and the fact that our snipers were able to make a perfect shot on a roof that was more slanted tells me that a less slanted roof would make a fine spot for a shooter. That statement is not for me. I’m not sure where that came from, but I’m sorry she said it because, like many other things, she will have to own that going forward. But yeah, a slanted rooftop might be the perfect place for a shooter. I do n’t understand how that affects it in any way.
MK: I hope this is n’t misinterpreted. I do n’t want anybody to have to face what President Trump faced in Pennsylvania. I’m not interested in my political disagreements with them. That’s the state of affairs that we’re in today in America is sad. That said, there’s been a lot of conversation in the last 48 hours or so about the diversion, perhaps, of protective services to get over to an event relatively close featuring the First Lady Jill Biden. These resources, it seems, were some of the ones that were typically present at the former President Trump’s rally. Can you discuss that, your observations on numerous occasions, and what that means for the Secret Service in terms of resources?
KV: In my experience, that would n’t have happened. Certain protective schedule changes necessitate the relocation of assets. You do n’t take away one protectee’s assets to make up for another. Once you create an advanced security plan, you really have to stick to that plan. If, for instance, you had your best guesswork in mind and said,” We need 50 agents to affect the security plan that everyone agreed upon.” Well, you do n’t take all of them out and then suddenly appear at the last minute and say,” Actually, we only need 40, and we’re going to divert 10 over here to this.” That just did n’t happen during my tenure, so I’m going to be disappointed if that took place. That would not be the kind of experience I had while working for the Secret Service.
MK: It’s a difficult question, but it’s a difficult time, and many of our readers and listeners are asking it. I’m also covering the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, and the question comes up quite a bit. Evidently, Milwaukee’s Secret Service borders are close by. It is truly impressive. It really is thorough in terms of background checks. And of course, at this point, everything is on heightened alert. However, the question that arises from what has happened in Pennsylvania with all that has happened, and what appears to have been lapses for some time and a lack of resources, is arguably more than just negligence? Is this willful negligence?
KV: I believe that what you’re seeing in Milwaukee is the result of the Secret Service’s designation as a national special security event, which it always is. And so the Secret Service is obviously in charge of security for that, and the planning and the resources, the budget for that are both enormous. The FBI is in charge of the intelligence for that event. Therefore, anything that is not designated as a national special security event will need fewer resources and less time to plan and prepare.
My suspicion is that the Butler, Pennsylvania event took place over the course of at least one week to prepare and plan for it. And honestly, that’s plenty of time to do what was necessary in order to make that secure. And I believe the investigation will reveal what the agreements were, whether or not they were upheld, and if the protocols were followed. I firmly believe the Secret Service approach is extremely reliable. The question in my mind is, was the methodology followed?
One of my favorite things about the Secret Service was going out and making those advances, because that is how you actually make money, and that is what I love to tell. And you created the infrastructure and architecture needed to stop these things. The very first thing you do, no matter whether you show up to — Butler, Pennsylvania or to Los Angeles or to some small town in Mississippi, or overseas —is you contact the local police department and start collaborating. Sincerely, it was a lot of fun. That aspect of what we did was enjoyable. It was our bread and butter. We work very closely together. We do n’t dictate” Here’s how we’re going to do this,” so we do n’t enter. We come in and say,” Look, here’s the job to be done. Do you have any suggestions for how we might go about doing that? And what tools are you bringing in to help with that?”
Whether it was willful, I ca n’t strongly enough say that there’s nothing willful here on behalf of the agents: those who go out on the road and set these up. I ca n’t even the most brilliantly imagine that there was any kind of negligence, really. They are very dedicated and serious about the work that they are tasked with. But every advance is different, and every architecture and infrastructure is going to be different. The coordination and collaboration are unique. In the aftermath, I believe we’ll likely find that either there was a lack of communication or there was a lack of information. Disappointing failures either way. In the end, these events are the Secret Service’s property. And as I already said, you take every precaution that you can to prevent, as Plan A does. Plan B, we have the agents, the snipers, all of these in place as a backup, to react to this situation. And they do it bravely. However, it’s difficult to argue that failure is not the end result when the person you’re supposed to protect leaves with a gunshot wound, when others in that crowd are hurt, and one of them is killed. Clearly.
MK: I’m sure you understand those who are concerned about the Biden administration. There is a lot of evidence to support and support these assertions, including the fact that this administration has in many ways used the Justice Department to target a political foe. Certainly, the rhetoric is there, and the actions speak volumes as well with as many times now we can argue in this country about whether the former president did this or did that. However, the query persists. Some of this material has a lot of political undertones. But the concerns certainly are not lost on those who have paid attention to what’s happening over the last three and a half years. This could have been an inside job, I’ll say that for what it is. That’s the argument, at least.
KV: An inside job would really have to be well coordinated. That theory will bother me a lot. However, I do believe that if the Secret Service’s priority is not respected, it will be in line with my sarcastic observation about the memo I’m looking for from DHS, in which they pledged their support, resources, and other things. Other priorities that I’ve been hearing about have been rammed down the throat of the Secret Service. That’s a problem, I suppose.
Since moving from Treasury to DHS, I’ve always thought the process of moving the Secret Service to the bottom of the DHS priority list has been fairly straightforward. At least, that is what I felt serving there until 2020. We’re competing for resources, just like every other DHS entity, and you’re aware that we’re lumped in with other organizations whose missions are crucial. You do seem to have a mission that is not a priority, and that’s unfortunate. If we want to connect the dots to show that the lack of priority on the Secret Service and for the Secret Service to enable them to do their mission was pushed from the top down, then let’s call it what it is. That’s where I believe that’s coming from.
MK: Let’s talk about that. It would seem that, based on my understanding and knowledge of history, the presidents you protected never had a situation quite like they had in Pennsylvania. However, I’m sure you faced some challenges in the form of threats.
KV: You bet. Thankfully, praise God, I’ve never had to jump in front of live bullets. I’ve practiced and planned this situation before I fell in front of a lot of plastic bullets during training. However, what you saw last Saturday was that these men and women were performing live fire in real time, exactly as we do.
One of my favorite sayings, and I use it in the book a lot, is “preparation meets opportunity”. The preparation that we’ve all put in place gave us that chance. And they succeeded. The example that I used in the book was the night of 9/11. Many people are unaware that the president was evacuated after intelligence suggested a plane was traveling to the White House on September 11th, 2001, but that it was actually going there. So carried out an unprecedented evacuation with the President and the First Lady, which was a success that night. It was a flawless evacuation. President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush were both safely done, which is important to me. I believe you always keep an eye on the preparation because opportunities are abound.
MK: It’s just amazing to think of the preparations. Amazing to consider all the training involved in this. There are things that the Secret Service and law enforcement agencies are n’t going to talk about in security, and it’s obvious you ca n’t talk about them. What are those things? Can you now share some information with us about what we might not know as a former member of the U.S. Secret Service team? By design, there are many things we do n’t know about the Secret Service and protection, but there are some things you can talk about that might surprise some people.
KV: Day in and day out, people do n’t have to think about the Secret Service. It’s easy to believe that in your job, maybe you do n’t matter, which is one of the things I discussed yesterday at the International Conference of Police Chaplains. I’d like to disagree. But even a Secret Service agent, day in and day out, when you do your job perfectly, effectively, it was a great day. You might believe you’re all but breaking even. But especially in light of what transpired the day before, when you can safely get your protectee back without bleeding, you cheat death and get the victory.
We need to push that narrative, I feel like, on all people. People are important. You’re not just a clump of cells that makes no difference. I think in society, we’re seeing suicide rates and just this assault on one another. It is unheard of. It certainly awaits those we protect if we do n’t do our job effectively, if we do n’t cheat death. That’s heavy upon Secret Service agents and cheating death was a term that we use to remind each other both of the importance of the mission, but also kind of a tongue-in-cheek way to just poke at each other and say keep the mission first, pay attention to detail, and let’s get the job done.
MK: As we already mentioned, context is important, and I believe you have misplaced an extremely significant fact. Trying to protect a president has always been dangerous work. It just seems to me that it’s become much more difficult these days, as heated and divided as it is in this country. The Secret Service employees deal with that reality day in day out. It’s a fascinating look inside the world of a secret service organization established by design to safeguard the dignity of citizens in the United States.
