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<\/a><\/p>\nDan Bongino is best known to American conservatives today as a former congressional candidate, talk-show host and fiery commentator.<\/p>\n
But the position he says he will always be proudest of is that of \u201cSpecial Agent, United States Secret Service.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the man who once guarded the commander in chief has a terrifying warning in his new book\u00a0\u201cProtecting The President\u201d\u00a0<\/a>\u2013 Donald Trump is in jeopardy unless there is reform.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president of the United States is in genuine danger if the Secret Service doesn\u2019t change course soon and evolve with the rapidly changing threat environment,\u201d Bongino writes. \u201cThe threats to the White House and the president are swiftly evolving in this new era of weaponized drones, micro-sized video surveillance technology, vehicle attacks on civilians, small arms tactical assaults, and technologically advanced and difficult-to-detect explosives. And if the decision makers in the Secret Introduction Service refuse to evolve with this series of threats, then, tragically, we may suffer the first loss of a president since John F. Kennedy.\u201d<\/p>\n Bongino describes the agency as suffering an \u201cexistential\u201d crisis and\u00a0reeling from recent scandals.<\/a>\u00a0 And the former agent has provided a sober, detailed look at how one of America\u2019s elite law enforcement agencies has sabotaged itself.<\/p>\n Bongino identifies the reason for the collapse of the Secret Service as \u201cmission creep,\u201d as the agency has lost sight of its primary mission of protecting the president following its incorporation into the Department of Homeland Security.<\/p>\n The former agent argues morale for the agency has been \u201cdevastated\u201d because of the increasing number of events designated \u201cNational Special Security Events,\u201d with seemingly \u201cevery national summit or sports event\u201d dumping security costs on the taxpayer by demanding \u2013 and getting \u2013 Secret Service protection.<\/p>\n This is in addition to the Secret Service\u2019s other main duty of investigating counterfeiting and fraud.<\/p>\n The problem is compounded by \u201cunresponsive management,\u201d as overworked agents are constantly on the road and being assigned to endless protection missions after little sleep. Agents are also offered a far less desirable compensation structure than other federal law enforcement agencies. Not surprisingly, many agents want to transfer out of the force as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n The result of these trends, warns Bongino, could end badly.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Secret Service cannot effectively protect the president in the future with its current portfolio of problems,\u201d the agent writes. \u201cMission creep has saddled the Secret Service with an expanded plate of responsibilities that it no longer has the manpower, budget, or training to effectively handle. Poor management decisions, made with the best interests of upper-level Secret Service management but the worst interests of the working agents in the field in mind, have also ravaged the workforce and destroyed both special agent morale, and faith in the leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen combined with a special agent pay scale that incentivizes Secret Service agents to seek employment elsewhere within the federal law enforcement alphabet soup of agencies, it\u2019s no surprise that failures have begun to pile up within the Secret Service.\u201d<\/p>\n Bongino is not the only agent warning of catastrophe ahead.<\/p>\n \u201c[I]n the last few decades, the United States Secret Service has forgotten where it began and what it is,\u201d writes former Secret Service Agent Jason Wells in the forward. \u201cAn agency that once defined itself by protecting people without negotiating how it will do it now does so with a wink-and-a-nod understanding that the criteria of protection is open to interpretation and adjustment. Someone in the agency came in one day and started replacing right and wrong with black and white, and incorrectly thought that the two meant the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Those chiefly familiar with Bongino\u2019s reputation as a fiery conservative commentator may be surprised by this comprehensive and highly analytical dissection of the issues surrounding the collapse of one of America\u2019s most elite institutions. Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive at Amazon.com, with most giving the book five stars.<\/p>\n Readers rave:<\/p>\n The stakes could not be higher, as threats against President Trump and his family have become disturbingly common, even from elected officials. Missouri state senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal\u00a0posted and then deleted a comment on Facebook that\u00a0hoped for the president\u2019s assassination in August.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0A state lawmaker in Maine\u00a0made a physical threat against President Trump in July.<\/a>\u00a0 Celebrities such as Jim Carrey and Kathy Griffin have\u00a0also seemingly promoted violence against the president.<\/a><\/p>\n With those comments seemingly mainstream, the mission of the Secret Service is more important than ever. But as\u00a0\u201cProtecting The President\u201d<\/a> shows, the agency is in real danger of failing its core mission unless outsiders are brought in to shake it up.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes, inexperience with mistakes can be an advantage, and in the case of the Secret Service, it\u2019s time to try something new as the mistakes pile up,\u201d Bongino writes. \u201cAmerica cannot afford to lose another president, and fixing the Secret Service is the only way to ensure that we don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n