The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "U.S. Secret Service" ...
-
The Secret Service Scandal
As President Obama was dressing to attend a formal gala of 430 world leaders in Cartagena, Colombia, last April, a story broke over a U.S. Secret Service agent not paying an agreed upon $800 fee for sex with a prostitute, leading to the dismissal of 11 secret service agents for their debauchery at Colombia’s Hotel Caribe. It was the largest scandal in the 147-year-old history of the Secret Service, exposing a pervasive macho culture of hard-working, hard-partying agents in an agency whose common image is one of stoned-faced, buttoned-down agents focused solely on protecting the President.
-
Secret Service Strip Club: El Salvador
Seattle-based investigative reporter Chris Halsne tracks down a reluctant source in El Salvador to expose allegations that getting drunk, partying with strippers, and paying for sex with third-world prostitutes is part of the U.S. Secret Service culture. This investigative series is aired just weeks after agents were caught in Columbia with hookers – and just days after Homeland Security Director announced to Congress that Columbia was an isolated incident.
Tags: corruption; U.S. Secret Service; El Salvador; Seattle
-
Red River Dumping
Millions of gallons of toxic waster were secretly being dumped into a northern Louisiana waterway. The September story started with an anonymous tip and led to the discovery of thousands of pages of online documents revealing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality concerns about the presence of dangerous toxins in waste water stored by CCS Midstream Services, LLC, hidden caches of toxic waste, falsified records and a hidden pipe leading into Red River.
Tags: toxins; public health; environmental violations; protected waters; toxic waste; pollution; dumping chemicals;
-
Hacker Hunters
The authors investigated a battle of wits between the U.S. secret service and a cyber-crime gang known as the ShadowCrew. The story covers a rare victory by law enforcement to shut down a web-based crime outfit. It gave a face to the ShadowCrew, a network of over 4,000 people run by a part time college student and gave a reminder to internet users to be wary of doing business on the Web.
Tags: Internet; cyber-crime; web-based crime outfit; ShadowCrew; the U.S. Secret Service; e-business; Internet security
-
Curse of the Double Eagle
This brings to light the dark and complex history of a rare, 1933 Double Eagle $20 gold coin. The coin, that some believe to be a fake, was auctioned off at Sotheby's in 2002. This story tells the tale of the Secret Service sting, the thefts, and the scams that brought it there.
Tags: coin collecting; numismatics; auctions; forgery; U.S. Mint; currency
-
Secrets of the Secret Service
U.S. News examines the Secret Service in this three-part series and finds lapses in the protective coverage it provides presidents, tremendous personnel loses and abuses of authority by agents.
Tags: Secret Service; abuses; personnel; protective coverage; problems
-
The Secret Service, In Black and White
Perl digs into allegations that the U.S. Secret Service discriminated against black agents in considering them for promotions, and tolerated an atmosphere of racial harassment in its offices. Secret Service veteran Ray Moore and nine other black agents filed a race discrimination suit in U.S. District Court in May 2000. Thirty-eight current and former agents who were black made sworn statements alleging that the Secret Service had discriminatory practices. "The heart of the current case hinges on numbers: Veteran black special agents claim that while increased recruiting has expanded their ranks to 10 percent, a 'glass ceiling' keeps most of them from being promoted to management, whose ranks are only 4.2 percent black." The agents also claim that the service allows a culture of racial intolerance. "The worst example, they allege, is that about a dozen white agents were never disciplined for attending a notoriously racist 'Good Ol' Boys Roundup,' and alcohol-fueled law enforcement gathering held annually in Tennessee. The event regularly featured obscene and racist skits and the hanging of black effigies."
Tags: Ray Moore; U.S. Secret Service; Black Agents of the Secret Service; discrimination; lawsuit; EEOC; racism; job promotions; John Relman
-
Spy on a Tightrope
During the late 1980's Thomas Hayden served as a master chief in the U.S. naval communication center in Naples until he was approached by the Naval Investigative Service - NIS - and asked to pose as a counter intelligence agent and offer top secret naval information to the KGB. In this article Hayden shares his experience as a spy and the personal questions regarding his activities that plagued him.
Tags: NIS; espionage; spying; KGB; Naval Intelligence
-
The Strange Case of Hany K.
Since the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, dozens of immigrants -- all Arabs -- have been detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service on the basis of secret evidence. As such, their attorneys are helpless, even if the immigrants are innocent. The magazine finds different standards in treatment of U.S. citizens and aliens in cases of suspected terrorism.
Tags: Immigrants; immigration; terrorism; Immigration and Naturalization Service
-
Joe Dogs Jimmy the Weasel Sammy the Bull John Dean
The Washington Post Magazine reports that "protected witnesses sometimes to strange things with their new identities. The U.S. Marshalls Service tells no tales, but others do... There are lots of great stories in the witness protection program - tragic stories, comic stories, tragicomic stories. But the United States Marshalls Service, which runs the program, prefers that they remain untold stories. WITSEC is a secret program. Very secret. Sometimes ludicrously secret."