WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A former Secret Service agent who once protected U.S. President Obama filed to run for Congress as a Republican, seeking to challenge Rep. John Delaney, D-Md.
Dan Bongino, a 12-year Secret Service veteran who protected Obama and George W. Bush said the debate within the White House over the Affordable Care Act led him to retire and run for Congress, ABCNews.com reported Thursday.
Bongino, 39, doesn't say much about exactly what he saw and heard while protecting the president, but strongly hinted it was "worse than people know. They'd be shocked, scared, if they knew everything."
"Being a Secret Service agent, I have an obligation not to disclose personal conversations and security details," he told ABCNews.com. "But that doesn't prevent me from speaking generally about foundational principles and the system of patronage and punishment I saw in the Obama administration."
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The tipping point was the debate over the ACA during Obama's first term.
"The public doesn't have any idea how many deals were cut on that," Bongino said. "The Republican Party has a reputation for being the party of big business, but you wouldn't think that if you saw the Obamacare debate. So many people were sold out, and so many sold out, it's disgusting."
Bongino was Maryland's Republican candidate for Senate in 2012, but lost to incumbent Sen. Ben Cardin.
Bongino's former colleagues told ABCNews.com they weren't happy with their former colleague's co-opting his proximity to the president into a political career.
"He's trying to draw attention to himself and he's hijacking the Secret Service brand," a former colleague said. "That's all he's got going for him."
