Politico Reported That Secret Service Veterans Say Byrne Is “Inflating His Role” And “Could Never Have Seen Any Of What He Claims.”
Politico highlighted complaints about the book from “several high-level members of Secret Service presidential details,” who say Byrne is “inflating his role,” “could never have seen any of what he claims,” and is making “security harder by eroding the trust between agents and the people they protect.” The publication also first reported that the Association of Former Agents of the United States Secret Service is condemning the book, with the nonpartisan group stating that there “is no place for any self-moralizing narratives, particularly those with an underlying motive.” [
Politico,
6/21/16;
Media Matters,
6/21/16]
CNN Interviewed Former Secret Service Agent Who Said He “Can't Comprehend How A Uniformed Division Officer Could Ever Find Themselves In Those Situations.” CNN host Michael Smerconish interviewed former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow, who cast strong doubt on Byrne’s book:
MICHAEL SMERCONISH: Is it conceivable to you that a uniformed agent could have seen the sort of things that he alleges having seen?
JONATHAN WACKROW: No. I mean, just from the pre-publication documents that are out, I can't comprehend how a uniformed division officer could ever find themselves in those situations to, you know, view what he is saying that he saw. [CNN,
Smerconish, 6/25/16, via
CNN.com]
BuzzFeed: Byrne’s Book Is “Contradicted By His Own Testimony.” BuzzFeed reporter Christopher Massie wrote:
Gary Byrne, a former Secret Service agent who worked in Bill Clinton’s White House, tells a dramatic story in his upcoming book about how he personally helped a White House steward dispose of towels stained by semen and lipstick to protect the president from a sex scandal.
That story, as well as another Byrne tells about walking in on Bill Clinton making out with a TV journalist, is different from what he told investigators from Kenneth Starr’s Office of the Independent Counsel in 1998, a BuzzFeed News review of interviews, depositions, and grand jury testimony has found. [BuzzFeed,
6/21/16]