WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service does not often get a black eye behind those oh-so-cool sunglasses. It's got a shiner now.

The public face of the service is one of steely professionals in impeccable suits, wearing discreet earpieces and packing even more discreet weapons. Agents are expressionless except for their ever-searching gaze, lethal automatons ready to die for a president.

By reputation, stoked by Hollywood myth and the public's fleeting glances at dark-windowed motorcades, they are anything but party animals.