Secret Service Agent Carter Kim Fights for Justice

By Sam Chu Lin
Special to AsianWeek

A Secret Service agent’s duty is to protect the leaders of this country at all costs. They are human shields, trained to step into the line of fire if needed.

Not just bodyguards, the Secret Service are responsible for the enforcement of laws relating to counterfeiting and other types of financial fraud.

That’s the kind of responsibility Secret Service agent Carter Kim has had with Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton. For 18 years, the 43-year old Korean American agent has been given such top priority assignments, along with high profile criminal investigations here in the United States and Asia.

But after reporting evidence cataloguing problems in his department to the Treasury Department inspector, his own career has taken a beating. Kim found himself on mandatory administrative leave and suspended from all duties — he is now fighting to save his career.

Suspended Las Vegas Secret Service Agent Carter Kim at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles. Photo by Sam Chu Lin.

One of the Best

Kim received the highest grade point average in his class at both the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia and the Secret Service Academy. He has also been honored many times for his accomplishments in nabbing crooks that were counterfeiting money and credit cards. He was even named “Law Officer of the Year” in Southern California for breaking up a credit card forgery operation. In recent years, he has been tracking down criminals and counterfeiters who have been trying to ply their trade in Las Vegas’ hotels and casinos.

But all that may be over.

“Instead of being applauded for his courage and rewarded for his honesty, he’s been basically put out to pasture,” stated Harvey Horikawa, Kim’s attorney in Los Angeles. Horikawa is calling on the Asian Pacific American community to rally their support behind Kim.

Until he was suspended, the Secret Service agent was in charge of criminal investigations for the Las Vegas field office. Kim said he had warned Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Joseph Saitta that some of the evidence was not being catalogued and secured properly, and if these problems weren’t corrected, a Pandora’s box would be opened.

“The evidence was not properly documented,” Kim stated. “It was not properly segregated. It was not – as we call in law enforcement – ‘bagged and tagged’ properly. Our evidence room was in a state of confusion. It’s critical that the chain of custody of evidence be maintained. Without that proper chain of custody of this evidence, the case cannot be prosecuted.”

Instead of taking corrective action, Kim said Saitta ordered missing evidence, like counterfeit money, portable computers and computer disks, to be replaced. He said the SAC declared “there would be only one spokesperson in the office, and he was that voice.”

Kim added he was told “to ignore the situation.” That greatly disappointed him.

He said the Treasury Department’s Inspector General announced it was auditing the Las Vegas field office. Hearing this, Kim ordered all the fake evidence to be removed from the vault. He went over his boss’s head and blew the whistle.

“Good Old Boy’s Network”

Instead of being praised for his actions, Kim feels he is being punished. His suspension was a complete surprise. In March, Kim was given the assignment to supervise the security of former President George Bush on his visit to Las Vegas. The agent was waiting at the Las Vegas airport for his arrival when he received a telephone call and was told to return to his office. Representatives of the Inspector General’s office, the same people he had notified about the mishandled evidence, greeted him.

“They took away my badge,” Kim recounted. “They took away my gun. They took away my office keys. There was no formal notice as far as what I was being charged with, and since that time, approximately four months later, I have received nothing written or verbal as far as what are the allegations.”

A secret service spokesperson said that the department does not comment on personnel matters.

Agent Moore, who is the lead plaintiff in a racial discrimination lawsuit by 250 African American agents against the Secret Service, said Kim violated perhaps a more important set of rules, that of the “good old boys’ network.”

“He went up against the SAC,” Moore acknowledged. “You just don’t do that. The unwritten rule is that the Special Agent is god in his office. I’m sure Carter went through a lot of conflict in doing what was right as opposed to what was wrong. But in the Service, if you go against the managers, you destroy your career.”

A month later Saitta was allowed to retire, without any criticism or punishment. In a published report, Saitta stated he was already planning his retirement and denies any cover-up.

Agent Moore said memos have been circulated throughout the Secret Service reminding everyone of the importance of handling and processing evidence properly. He added, as a result of Kim’s action, a potential problem is being corrected, but he is no longer present.

“The Secret Service is a closed society,” an angry Kim declared. “They are non-transparent. They are not held accountable by any outside independent agency. My overall goal is to bring these events to the public in hopes for reform.”

Former President Clinton greeting Carter Kim's daughter Jenna and son Tanner in the Oval Office in April, 1995. White House photo.

The Community Steps In

Civil Rights organizations across the country are now assisting agent Kim.

John Tateishi, Executive Director of the Japanese American Citizens League, has sent a letter to Brian Stafford, director of the Secret Service, asking him why Kim is being subjected to “retaliatory treatment” for doing his job.

“I’m furious about what the agency is doing,” Tateishi said.

Stewart Kwoh, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles, added, “Asian Americans are writing letters. They’re starting to complain to various public officials. There have been various congressional people looking into the case.”

Agent Kim said he has tried to settle this situation quietly, but he has been rebuffed. Now he’s going public, and he’s exercising his legal rights. He’s gone to Congress and met with the chief counsels for the House Judiciary Committee.

Ron Schmidt, an attorney representing Kim in Washington, D.C. believes the Senate Judiciary Committee is considering staging oversight hearings on Homeland Security and possibly the Secret Service beginning next month. If called, Kim is ready to testify.

The suspended agent believes that the Secret Service should be held accountable for their actions, especially for allowing and condoning the spreading of false allegations.

“These allegations attack my character. They attack my future employment. It’s been really an unpleasant experience,” he said. “The Secret Service has problems internally — the discrimination complaints, the cover-ups that have gone on, and their resistance to having an independent body overseeing and supervising their actions.”

The Secret Service has sent Kim’s attorneys a letter stating that he now has to file a new discrimination claim with the Treasury Department. It continues to refuse to issue a report outlining its findings of its investigation as requested by Kim’s attorneys.