James M. Murray is an American law enforcement officer who served as the 26th
director of the United States Secret Service
The director of the United States Secret Service is the head of the United States Secret Service, and responsible for the day-to-day operations.
The Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department ...
.
Early life and education
Born in
Jersey City, New Jersey, Murray attended
St. Rose High School. Murray earned a bachelor's degree from the
University of Scranton
The University of Scranton is a private Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was elevated to university status and took t ...
and a master's degree from
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the ...
.
Career
Murray began his career in law enforcement as a Special Agent/Investigator with the
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States a ...
. He joined the Secret Service in 1995 as a Special Agent in the New York Field Office, where he investigated cyber-enabled financial crimes and served as the agency's representative for the
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 ...
-
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
Joint Terrorism Task Force
In the United States, the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) are locally-based multi-agency partnerships between various federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies tasked with investigating terrorism and terrorism-related crimes, led by the ...
. In 2001, he transferred to the Presidential Protective Division, which safeguards the President and his immediate family. In 2005, he was promoted to Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge of Presidential Protection.
In 2007, Murray became the Secret Service's liaison to the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
and all entities on
Capitol Hill. He served as the operational site supervisor for multiple
National Special Security Event
A National Special Security Event (NSSE) is an event of national or international significance deemed by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to be a potential target for terrorism or other criminal activity. These events have ...
s, including the
inauguration of President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
on January 20, 2009. Afterwards, he became the Resident Agent in Charge of the Secret Service's Atlantic City Resident Office. In 2012, Murray became the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the
James J. Rowley Training Center in
Laurel, Maryland
Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River. While the city limits are entirely in northern Prince George's County, outlying developments extend into Anne Arunde ...
.
![Acting Secretary Gaynor Participates in an Inauguration Brief with Vice President Pence - 50856104603](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Acting_Secretary_Gaynor_Participates_in_an_Inauguration_Brief_with_Vice_President_Pence_-_50856104603.jpg)
In 2014, Murray became the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service's Washington, D.C. Field Office. He was promoted to the position and continued to lead the field office until 2016. From 2016 to 2018, he served as Deputy Assistant Director of Protective Operations, during which he led combined agency efforts for the presidential campaigns ahead of the
2016 U.S. presidential election
The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...
, the
presidential transition, and the
inauguration of President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
on January 20, 2017. He returned to the James J. Rowley Training Center as the Special Agent in Charge.
In April 2018, Murray became the Assistant Director of the Office of Protective Operations and was responsible for the planning, coordination, and administration of the agency's global protective mission. On April 8, 2019, President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
removed
Randolph Alles as Director of the U.S. Secret Service and named Murray as his replacement. He took office on May 1, 2019.
On July 7, 2022, Murray announced his retirement as Secret Service Director, to take effect July 30, 2022. Murray will take the role of Chief Security Officer at
Snap Inc.
Snap Inc. is an American camera and social media company, founded on September 16, 2011, by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown based in Santa Monica, California. The company developed and maintains technological products and services ...
, parent company of
Snapchat, on August 1, 2022. However, he announced on July 28, 2022 that he will "briefly" delay his retirement, in connection with the
investigation into missing Secret Service records (see below).
Missing records investigation
On July 14, 2022, it was reported that "Members of the U.S. Secret Service erased text messages from January 5th and 6th, 2021, shortly after the Department of Homeland Security inspector general requested them as part of an investigation into the agency's response to the
2021 United States Capitol attack, according to a letter written by the inspector general to congressional leaders (...)" The next day the
Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol sent a subpoena to Murray seeking, "(...) the relevant text messages, as well as any after action reports that have been issued in any and all divisions of the USSS pertaining or relating in any way to the events of January 6, 2021." On July 20, 2022, Gladys Ayala, the Deputy Inspector General (IG) of the
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
notified the Secret Service that her office was investigating the disappearance of text messages and emails regarding the siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, characterizing their disappearance as an "ongoing criminal investigation." She directed the Secret Service to cease any internal investigations into the matter of failure of the agency to preserve the missing records.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, James M.
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Biden administration personnel
Directors of the United States Secret Service
People from Point Pleasant, New Jersey
Seton Hall University alumni
Trump administration personnel
United States Secret Service agents
University of Scranton alumni