Gores former Secret Service agents vying to head TBI

<p>Two Secret Service agents who helped protect Al Gore when he was vice president are among six candidates vying to head the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.</p><p>Michael A. Rice, assistant special agent in charge of the Federal Air Marshal Service in Atlanta, and J. Michael Pearson, resident agent in charge of the Secret Service for the state of Mississippi, are seeking to succeed Larry Wallace, who resigned after 11 years last month.</p><p>Other candidates who met Fridays application deadline are acting TBI Director David Jennings; Jeff Long, an assistant district attorney; Roger Farley, a former TBI agent who works for Toshiba Corp. in Lebanon; and Mike Bottoms, district attorney general for the 22nd Judicial District.</p><p>A five-member nominating commission will meet Dec. 15 to review the applications and will interview applicants Dec. 18.</p><p>The commission will narrow the list to three candidates, and Gov. Phil Bredesen will pick one to serve the remainder of Wallaces term, which ends this spring. The commission then will help select a director to serve a full six-year term.</p><p>Pearson said in his resume that he was the supervisory special agent of the Vice Presidential Protective Division at Gores house in Carthage, and directed and supervised security arrangements for Gore throughout the United States.</p><p>Rice, special agent in charge of the Nashville Secret Service Field Office from 1999 to 2002, said he was fundamentally involved in protecting every first family since the presidency of Gerald Ford.</p>