The Assistant Secretary of State was a top political official within the State Department, just under the Secretary of State. In 1996, FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder called the Assistant Secretary's office and was informed of the imminent arrival of the Ecuadorean ambassador, which placed Mulder and Scully off of an X-File related to murders at the Boston Museum of Natural History]. This was apparently caused by a letter sent by Alonso Bilac. (TXF: "Teso Dos Bichos")