"Lew was a trusted member of the Secret Service who believed in the values of duty, honor, courage, and commitment. 'Trust and Confidence' is the story of how Lew defended those values from those who sought to undermine what Lew would never surrender - his integrity."-Leon E. Panetta, Former Chief of Staff; Secretary of Defense; Director CIA
"A well-researched, enthralling history of the fight between Kenneth Starr and the Secret Service. Lichtman's story is a gripping political drama."-Kirkus Reviews
In 1998, for the first time in our nation's history, the director of the United States Secret Service was asked to testify against a sitting president. Independent counsel Kenneth Starr wanted to question Director Lewis Merletti about President Bill Clinton's relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Starr issued a motion to compel Merletti and agents protecting the president to testify as to what they may have seen or heard regarding Clinton's intimate liaisons with Lewinsky. In a declaration made in opposition to the motion, Merletti argued that if agents were permitted to testify about anything other than criminal acts, it would compromise the trust and confidence tenet critical to the mission of the Secret Service and thus jeopardize the safety of the presidency and the country.
But there was something more to the story. An anonymous source inside the agency alleged that Director Merletti had a deal with Clinton. In exchange for his silence on Lewinsky, the president would appoint him director.
Drawn from interviews and previously unreleased documents from the National Archives, this is the only inside account of the battle between the Secret Service and the independent counsel. It's about a special counsel report, presumed to be sealed, investigating the confrontation of Lewinsky by Starr's attorneys at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and the connection between the Secret Service and Lewinsky. As associate independent counsel, Mark Barrett told Starr . . . "This would be a live grenade. Do it right. Monica Lewinsky and Secret Service."