Gary Warren Aldrich is a former
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
agent.
Career
Gary Aldrich was a special agent with the FBI for 26 years investigating white-collar crime. He spent the latter part of his career working in the White House as a background investigator providing clearances to White House staff during the George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations.
[Neil A. Lewis]
Former F.B.I. Agent Recounts Activities at the White House
''New York Times'' (June 30, 1996). Aldrich retired from the Bureau in 1994. He wrote the 1996 book ''Unlimited Access: An FBI Agent Inside the Clinton White House'' (published by
Regnery Publishing
Regnery Publishing is a politically conservative book publisher based in Washington, D.C. The company was founded by Henry Regnery in 1947, and is now a division of radio broadcaster Salem Media Group. It is led by President & Publisher Thomas ...
), which was highly critical of the
Clinton administration.
Controversy
As an agent who provided security to the White House, Aldrich gives much of the account in ''Unlimited Access'' from a first-hand perspective.
[David Streitfeld]
Before Scandal, Tripp Wrote Book Proposal on Clinton Administration
''Washington Post'' (January 28, 1998). He details the dismantling by the Clintons of normal security protocols that had been in place for six presidencies, something which permitted Clinton staffers of dubious background to enter sensitive areas. The book was published "to considerable controversy but great popularity."[ Aldrich acknowledged that "many events described in the book came to him second- and third-hand and that he had no evidence to corroborate them."][ The book's publication led to a response by Clinton White House officials, who "said the book was filled with demonstrably untrue information."][ The FBI's general counsel Howard Shapiro shared a copy of the manuscript with the Clinton administration while the FBI's review process was ongoing, which Aldrich interpreted as a political move designed to give the Clinton cohort time to form a public response. Though ''Unlimited Access'' relies on eyewitness testimony (Aldrich's own and that of other White House insiders), The ''New York Times'' opined that "in many ways the book is like the 'raw' F.B.I. reports in which agents collect unevaluated information."][Neil A. Lewis]
''New York Times'' (June 30, 1996). Aldrich was investigated by the FBI over his publication of the book without FBI authorization, but in 1997 the Department of Justice announced that no charges would be filed against him.
Advocacy
In 1997, Aldrich formed a nonprofit organization, the Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty.
References
External links
Patrick Henry Center biography
*
Townhall columns
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldrich, Gary
Living people
American political writers
American male non-fiction writers
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents
Year of birth missing (living people)