The Secret Service Agency basically said “good riddance” to their director, Randolph D. ‘Tex” Alles on Monday. The move was not unexpected, and, in fact, was welcomed by most members of the law enforcement agency.
“Alles seemed more interested in making friends with agents than fixing the problems that plague the once-proud agency,” according to agency sources. “He proved to be the exact opposite of what was needed to reform the agency. “
One of his ideas for trimming costs was to get rid of protection for members of the Trump family.
The Secret Service was battling for the reputation ever since the party-crashing Salahis went right into the White House State Dinner back in 2009, or since the Secret Service prostitution scandal in 2012 or since Omar Gonzalez was able to penetrate his way into the White House with a knife before being apprehended in 2014.
This recent change comes in the wake of an embarrassing episode at Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago resort club in Palm Beach, Florida, involving a Chinese national on a club guest list who was arrested with devices bearing computer malware.
The Secret Service put the responsibility on Mar-a-Lago’s private security detail.
Alles was appointed on April 25, 2017 and was pushed on the president by General John F. Kelly, then Secretary of Homeland Security and later White House Chief of Staff.
Sources indicate that Kelly threatened to quit as DHS secretary if Trump did not appoint Kelly’s friend Tex.
According to Steve Bannon, the president wanted George Milligan, a respected veteran agent who is chief operating officer of the Secret Service.
When Trump interviewed Alles, he was not impressed. Alles volunteered that he knew next to nothing about the Secret Service.
“Apparently it was too much trouble to read books and articles about the agency or to check out the Secret Service website before meeting with the president,” wrote Kessler in The Trump White House.
Alles retained the same senior management that produced the past scandals and he did nothing to change the agency’s culture.
At one point Alles actually proposed saving money by withdrawing Secret Service protection of some Trump family members and some aides – unless they had actually received a threat.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Alles “has done a great job at the agency over the last two years, and the President is thankful for his over 40 years of service to the country.”
“Mr. Alles will be leaving shortly and President Trump has selected James M. Murray, a career member of the USSS, to take over as director beginning in May.”
Credit: Daily Mail
