ABC News examines the real Designated Survivor
The ABC drama Designated Survivor depicts what happens in the days after a catastrophic event takes place in our nation’s capital, killing the president and other high-level government officials, leaving a low-level Cabinet member in charge of the nation.
ABC News Senior Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas is investigating the actual position that spawned the fictional television series in a special airing on ABC’s 20/20 Wednesday evening. He spoke with ABC-7 about what he learned.
“This person is flown to a secret location, something beyond top secret, actually. A place where there would be heavy security and the leaders of government at their disposal to begin operating in the event of the unthinkable.”
The Designated Survivor is picked during the presidential inauguration and the annual State of the Union. Thomas, who has reported on government and national politics for ABC News since 2000, said he was given access to a bunker that previously served as a location where the government would operate in the instance of an extreme crisis.
“Turns out, it’s at a resort in West Virginia. And this particular place was hiding in plain sight for 30 years before the Washington Post exposed that it existed,” Thomas said. “We found a water treatment facility, a power plant, it had a hospital facility, it had a broadcast center, enough seats for the House to convene, enough seats for the Senate to convene.”
See more from Thomas’ interview with anchor Stephanie Valle on ABC-7 at 4.
’20/20: The Real Designated Survivor’ airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. on ABC-7.
