Starting your work day by being frog marched into the basement of an Outlaws’ biker gang clubhouse, and being strip-searched at gunpoint isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time—at least no sane person. And, certainly, FBI Agent and undercover employee (UCE) Scott Payne wasn’t smiling in that cramped subterranean cinder block box.
Sweating bullets (pun intended), Payne had his clothing meticulously searched by “Clothesline,” a patched member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club (OMC), his fingers probing dangerously close to concealed recording devices. Another Outlaw stood in the doorway with a gun shoved in his belt. Payne’s voice strained nervously to answer simple questions, and to produce basic information printed on a data sheet, like “what’s your middle name” — a question complicated by the life and death seriousness of his situation, and the fact that his middle name was fiction. A part of Payne’s legend — the story of Scott Andrew Callaway, “a Harley-loving, whiskey-drinking, site survey specialist from Texas.”
Clothesline watched him fill in every box, looking for signs of deception. Every answer Payne gave had to pass the gut-check test.
This is just a small vignette of Payne’s fascinating, ever-evolving career as an FBI undercover agent. His law enforcement career took him from harried engagements pressed on him as a Greenville County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) uniform patrol deputy, to drug-infested sections of Greenville County, South Carolina, as a nascent narcotics agent. Payne began his law enforcement career in 1993, after stints as a bouncer at a “gentlemen's club” while a college student at Charleston Southern University.
An early encounter with the supernatural presaged some of the incredible but true tales that would characterize Payne’s FBI undercover career. Dabbling with a Ouija board, a young Scott Payne came face to face with a demonic apparition, which sent him running back to the church he’d forsaken. Faith has featured prominently in Payne’s life ever since.
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Payne’s debut book, “Codename: Pale Horse,” came after a total of twenty-eight years in law enforcement, and an in-depth Rolling Stone interview published in February 2022. Memoir isn’t something usually associated with retired FBI undercover agents, so when asked about the origins of his book, Payne told Townhall, “This all happened, through Divine intervention of course, but through my love and friendships through professional wrestling…Ken Jacobs, aka ‘Kane’” has been a long time friend of Payne and through several mutual connections who knew of Payne’s fascinating undercover career, came the Rolling Stone piece. Afterward, literary agents overwhelmed his professional manager, attempting to be the first to represent Payne’s literary interests.
“Codename: Pale Horse” is a fascinating recounting of a career dedicated to infiltrating biker gangs, domestic terrorist organizations, and anarchist groups dabbling in ritual sacrifice. It’s a seamlessly assembled montage of unexpected encounters, and an aspect of FBI operations rarely, if ever, seen by the general public.
In recent years, the reputation of the FBI has been tarnished by the malfeasance of highly placed bureaucrats and elected officials at the most senior levels. Scott Payne’s story is about what the good men and women of the FBI risk and accomplish, unheralded and in the face of a firestorm of criticism. Paynes infiltration of domestic Nazi organizations, hate camps, Klan groups, and entities like The Base, is undeniable proof of how the FBI, though enmeshed in Biden era politics, continued critical work in thwarting extremely dangerous criminal and terrorist activities.
Payne’s book is incredibly timely and gives the American public real reasons to hope for a renewed FBI under Director Kash Patel’s leadership. The phrase “let good cops be good cops” could not be more descriptive of Payne’s long and endlessly compelling career. And, as he admits, his story is just one of many yet untold.
Most people think FBI undercover operations are like the famous infiltration accomplished by Special Agent Joe Pistone, aka “Donnie Brasco.” But Payne is quick to correct the misconceptions. He told Townhall that undercover operations are about building relationships and that he was still required to juggle a case load, support SWAT operations, and manage his obligations as a firearms instructor. There were relatively brief periods when his UCE obligations were his primary responsibility, but that was never his sole focus or responsibility.
Of course, that incredible workload took a toll, and nearly destroyed his marriage. When asked if he’d do anything differently, Payne told Townhall, “No, except I’d try to balance it better…because it’s all voluntary work. The only thing I was required to be was a case agent. Over a three-year period…I wasn’t getting enough sleep, I was eating days off so management couldn’t tell me I couldn’t do something…I wasn’t recuperating. But, the thing is, I love doing all kinds of stuff.”
“Codename: Pale Horse” is a powerful book that details more than just an exceptional career. It’s a window into FBI operations, and tells a story the American public needs to hear. Scott Payne and agents like him are what the FBI has always been, even in spite of some very bad apples. It’s no wonder Joe Rogan interviewed Payne recently, and spent over three hours marveling at his stories. Payne is undeniable, as is his long and dedicated career in law enforcement. I’m proud to know Scott Payne and to call him a colleague. His book is on sale everywhere. Grab your copy today.
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