Panelists rip lapses of Secret Service

Agency woes run deep, House says

Secret Service Director Julia Pierson told lawmakers “we all are outraged” about lapses in White House security.
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson told lawmakers “we all are outraged” about lapses in White House security.

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers from both parties Tuesday assailed Julia Pierson, the director of the Secret Service, about security breaches at the White House, including an intruder who last month breached multiple security measures and evaded capture as he ran around the first floor of the mansion.

Pierson said in opening statements before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that she takes full responsibility for the breaches, and she pledged that "what happened is unacceptable, and it will never happen again." She promised a comprehensive review of the breaches.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday that President Barack Obama continues to have confidence in Pierson and the agency, but he said there is a "legitimate public interest" in disclosing what happened. Earnest said the Secret Service should release accurate information as soon as possible.

But hours after Pierson's testimony, officials disclosed another security problem: An armed contract security guard reportedly rode in an elevator with Obama last month in Atlanta, surprising Secret Service agents and violating agency protocols requiring that only members of the service may be armed around the president.

Earlier Tuesday, Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., lashed into Pierson during the legislative hearing, saying he does not believe the Secret Service takes seriously its duty to protect the president. He said he has "very low confidence" in Pierson's leadership.

"I wish to God that you protected the White House like you're protecting your reputation right now," Lynch said.

Pierson repeatedly acknowledged that "mistakes were made," a phrase that failed to satisfy many of the lawmakers. Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., told Pierson that he did not "get a sense of outrage" from her about what happened.

She responded, "We all are outraged."

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AP

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, listens to Secret Service Director Julia Pierson’s testimony on White House security.

Lawmakers from both parties criticized the agency for its response Sept. 19, when Omar Gonzalez, 42, is accused of making his way deep inside the president's residence, armed with a serrated knife. Gonzalez, an Army veteran, was indicted Tuesday on a federal charge of unlawfully entering a restricted building while carrying a deadly weapon and two violations of District of Columbia law -- carrying a dangerous weapon outside a home and unlawful possession of ammunition.

Under intense questioning about the breach, Pierson said, "I do not think the security plan was properly executed."

Pierson also offered new details about the moments before the intruder was captured.

She said he made his way through the unlocked front doors, "knocked back" an agent inside the building, and then fought with the agent as he continued through the Entrance Hall. He then turned left into the Cross Hall, got a few steps inside the East Room, and was finally tackled back in the Cross Hall.

"To the American public, that would be half of a White House tour," Lynch said. "This is disgraceful."

Lynch noted that Gonzalez, who is reportedly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, had been on the Secret Service radar since he was stopped by police in Virginia a month earlier with a "small arsenal" of weapons and a map that showed the White House.

"This is the Secret Service against one individual with mental illness. And you lost. You lost," Lynch said. "What happens when you have a sophisticated organization with nefarious intent and resources going up against the Secret Service? What happens then?"

Lawmakers accused Pierson and other officials at the Secret Service of misleading Congress and the public about how far inside the White House the man got before being captured. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, demanded to know why Secret Service officials said Gonzalez was stopped just inside the front doors of the mansion.

Pierson said she had read the agency's news release before it went out Sept. 20 but that she could not speak for conversations that she was not a part of.

Under questioning from Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the Republican chairman of the committee, Pierson said an outer glass door at the North Portico remained unlocked after the intruder breached the fence and that an inner, wooden door was in the process of being hand-locked when the intruder went through the doors. The intruder knocked an officer back and proceeded down the hallway, she said.

Pierson said the Secret Service has since installed an automatic lock on the door, which drew a tongue-in-cheek response from Issa.

"We learn from our mistakes," he said.

Members of Congress from both parties said in their opening statements that they suspected there were more systemic problems at the agency Pierson has led since March 2013. They questioned her leadership and her ability to repair what they said is a damaged culture inside the service.

Chaffetz angrily questioned Pierson about why the Secret Service had put out a statement that said its officers had exhibited "tremendous" restraint of force when the intruder breached the fence. He said that he wanted it to be "crystal clear if you dash at the White House, we are going to take you down."

Chaffetz said the Secret Service should take lethal action because even if intruders do not appear to be armed, they could be strapped with an explosive device.

Pierson responded that officers can only use lethal force if a person poses an imminent danger to themselves or others. She said that based on what had occurred, she believed that the officers had used proper restraint.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said the breach raises questions about the "competence and culture" of the Secret Service. He said Pierson must be more forthcoming about answering questions.

"I hate to even imagine what could have happened if Gonzalez had been carrying a gun instead of a knife when he burst inside the White House," Cummings said. "That possibility is extremely unsettling."

Other breaches questioned

Lawmakers also grilled Pierson about a 2011 incident in which bullets were fired at the White House from a person sitting in a car on Constitution Avenue, breaking a window on the third floor.

Several lawmakers cited a Washington Post report over the weekend in which a Secret Service officer said she was afraid to insist to superiors that she heard gunshots that night.

In response, Pierson said the report was concerning and that the agency's internal affairs department is looking into it.

"That extremely troubles me now," Pierson said.

Pierson confirmed that there have been six people who have jumped the White House fence so far this year, and a total of 16 in the past five years.

Despite the security breaches, Pierson said Tuesday that "the president is safe today."

But hours later, reports emerged of the failure in Secret Service protocol in Atlanta, this time in Obama's presence.

The incident, which took place as Obama visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sept. 16, rattled Secret Service agents assigned to the president's protective detail, according to three people familiar with the incident.

The private contractor first aroused the agents' concerns when he was acting oddly and did not comply with their orders that he stop using a phone camera to videotape the president in the elevator, according to the people familiar with the incident.

When the elevator opened, Obama left with most of his Secret Service detail, the people said. Some agents stayed behind to question the man and then used a national database check to learn of his criminal history.

When a supervisor from the firm providing security at the CDC approached and learned of the agents' concerns, the contractor was fired on the spot, the people said. Then the contractor agreed to turn over his gun -- surprising agents, who had not realized he was armed during his encounter with Obama.

Chaffetz, who heads the House subcommittee that oversees the Secret Service, first heard of the breakdown from a whistleblower. The Washington Post confirmed details of the event with other people familiar with the agency's review.

"You have a convicted felon within arm's reach of the president, and they never did a background check," Chaffetz said. "Words aren't strong enough for the outrage I feel for the safety of the president and his family."

Chaffetz added: "His life was in danger. This country would be a different world today if he had pulled out his gun."

A White House spokesman declined to comment on the incident or say when, or if, the president had been informed of it.

Information for this article was contributed by Michael D. Shear, Michael S. Schmidt and Julie Hirschfeld Davis of The New York Times; by Carol D. Leonnig of The Washington Post; and by Alicia A. Caldwell of The Associated Press.

A Section on 10/01/2014

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