John Kruger (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a U.S. Marshal working for the Federal Witness Security Protection Program (WITSEC) who specializes in "erasing" high-profile witnesses, faking their deaths to keep them safe from those who may wish to silence them. John is assigned to protect Lee Cullen (Vanessa L. Williams), a senior executive for Cyrez Corporation, a company that creates and manufactures weapons for the military. Lee has come across plans by Cyrez to sell a top secret electronic pulse rifle to Russian terrorist Sergei Ivanovich Petrofsky (Olek Krupa). The sale of such weapons of unparalleled firepower to the wrong hands would tip the balance of power. To procure evidence, Lee copies critical data onto two discs: one for the FBI, and the other—copied on a whim—as her own security. However, William Donahue (James Cromwell), the corrupt CEO of Cyrez, catches wind of Lee's intentions and orders her into his office. Donahue confiscated her camera and aims the gun at Lee, but commits suicide in order for him to escape punishment, and Lee barely escapes from Cyrez. Disappointed with the FBI because of failure to guarantee her safety, she delivers the evidence but refuses to submit herself to WITSEC, despite John's advice.