Statements from U.S. Secret Service Director James M. Murray and Director of Communications Cathy Milhoan

Today, the U.S. Secret Service released statements from Director James M. Murray and Director of Communications Catherine Milhoan.

Attributable to Secret Service Director James M. Murray:

Secret Service personnel are dedicated professionals who uphold our motto “Worthy of Trust and Confidence,” sacrificing of themselves to carry out our mission. Our workforce of more than 7,600 public servants demonstrate their dedication to duty every day.

Secret Service efforts in the areas of training, staffing, morale, discipline, and budget and resourcing have been extensively examined over the past decade. While in the midst of the most rigorous operational tempo in the history of the agency real and substantive transformation has occurred.

The American people can rest assured that the U.S. Secret Service is an apolitical and nonpartisan agency. Our focus is not on politics, but on uncompromising excellence and continual improvement, protecting national and world leaders, and the security of our nation’s financial system.  There is no tolerance for conduct that casts doubt on the unwavering commitment to execute these missions.

I could not be more proud of the strong work ethic, resilience and professionalism demonstrated every day by our workforce – and I am humbled to serve as their Director.

Attributable to Director of Communications Cathy Milhoan:

The U.S. Secret Service is an apolitical agency, protecting national and world leaders regardless of ideology. There is no tolerance for conduct that casts doubt on the unwavering commitment to execute these missions. Any credible allegation of employee misconduct or impropriety has been, and will continue to be, promptly and thoroughly investigated as is appropriate.

Relevant Facts and Figures

• Since FY2010, the Secret Service has facilitated more than 71,000 protective visits, foreign and domestic, for what has grown to be more than 40 protectees, the largest number in agency history.
• The agency continues to invest in both its workforce and the assets that support the workforce, to include over $800M in the last ten years developing and deploying protective technologies specific to the White House and other Secret Service protected facilities.
  • Construction remains underway for new White House perimeter fencing, which stands approximately twice as tall with anti-climb features along the public area sidewalks. More than half of the fence has already been installed.
  • Improved and expanded CCTV cameras cover all approach paths on the complex as well as expanded intrusion detection systems.
  • 14 gates and 10 officer booths have been renovated or replaced on the White House complex.
• A White House Security Review was completed following the fence jumper incident in 2017.
• The Secret Service is on target to meet its hiring goals in 2021, making this the third highest hiring effort in Secret Service history. 
• The Secret Service has also successfully secured 32 National Special Security Events (NSSE) in the past ten years, a notable undertaking requiring the leadership and coordination of security partners at every level for any given event.
  • In the past year, the Secret Service successfully executed four NSSEs.
• More than 18,000 protective intelligence cases have been closed since FY2010 in which a matter of protective interest was identified and appropriately assessed.
• Secret Service criminal investigations have an impact upon national and economic security. The sustained investigative focus by our agents and analysts on cyber-enabled financial crimes has resulted in the prevention of more than $9.5 billion in potential fraud loss over the past several years.
  • Over the past year the agency has disrupted hundreds of online pandemic-related scams, opened more than 750 COVID-related cases and seized in excess of $800 million in COVID-related fraud.
  • The Secret Service assisted in the return of nearly $2 billion to state unemployment programs.
• The Office of Integrity utilizes a standardized and objective discipline process, developed in response to employee misconduct in Cartagena. This process clearly defines deviations from the agency’s Code of Conduct and standardizes the appropriate course of action, accounting for any mitigating factors contributing to an infraction. 
• In 2014, a Protective Mission Panel was commissioned to independently assess Secret Service's security efforts. The Secret Service has made significant progress on the majority of the recommendations set forth by the panel, and continues to monitor the areas which require ongoing agency focus. 
  • Following the recommendations made by this panel, the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General determined in 2017 the Secret Service had completed actionable improvements per the panel's recommendations.
  • Specifically, the report found the agency "improved communication within the workforce, better articulated its budget needs, increased hiring, and committed to more training."
• The 2016 independent review by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) titled "United States Secret Service: Review of Organizational Change Efforts" determined that agency efforts: "are significant and wide ranging in terms of both scale and scope. The Secret Service has accomplished a substantial number of organizational, policy and process changes to transform the way the agency does business, to professionalize administrative, technical and management functions and to remedy numerous staffing and employee issues. Agency leadership has achieved these changes in a relatively short time, demonstrating its commitment to change."