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| Secret service chief vows 'unacceptable' intruder breach will not happen again | Secret service chief vows 'unacceptable' intruder breach will not happen again |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| The director of the US secret service, Julia Pierson, on Tuesday described the latest White House security breach – when an intruder made it much farther into the building than initially disclosed – was “unacceptable”, and promised it would “never happen again”. | The director of the US secret service, Julia Pierson, on Tuesday described the latest White House security breach – when an intruder made it much farther into the building than initially disclosed – was “unacceptable”, and promised it would “never happen again”. |
| As members of Congress lined up to lambast her leadership at a hearing on Capitol Hill, Pierson admitted the gravity of the failure and admitted repeated failings in the performance of the agency in recent years. | As members of Congress lined up to lambast her leadership at a hearing on Capitol Hill, Pierson admitted the gravity of the failure and admitted repeated failings in the performance of the agency in recent years. |
| The Washington Post revealed on Tuesday that Omar Gonzalez, a military veteran armed with a knife, who scaled the White House fence in September, was not apprehended until he had run through the main hall , past the staircase that leads to the president’s private quarters and all the way through the East Room. | |
| The account differed starkly from a press release issued by the secret service theday after the incident, which merely said Gonzalez was “physically apprehended after entering the White House North Portico doors”. | The account differed starkly from a press release issued by the secret service theday after the incident, which merely said Gonzalez was “physically apprehended after entering the White House North Portico doors”. |
| In written testimony for the House oversight committee, Pierson acknowledged serious failings. “It is clear the tour security plan was not executed properly,” she wrote. “I take full responsibility; what happened is unacceptable and it will never happen again.” | In written testimony for the House oversight committee, Pierson acknowledged serious failings. “It is clear the tour security plan was not executed properly,” she wrote. “I take full responsibility; what happened is unacceptable and it will never happen again.” |
| The secret service has buffeted by a series of failings, including a 2012 prostitution scandal that erupted during a presidential visit to Colombia. On Saturday, the Washington Post revealed that the secret service did not realise for four days in 2011 that shots fired by a gunman had hit the White House residence. | The secret service has buffeted by a series of failings, including a 2012 prostitution scandal that erupted during a presidential visit to Colombia. On Saturday, the Washington Post revealed that the secret service did not realise for four days in 2011 that shots fired by a gunman had hit the White House residence. |
| “I recognize that these events did not occur in a vacuum. The secret service has had its share of challenges in recent years,” Pierson wrote in her testimony. | “I recognize that these events did not occur in a vacuum. The secret service has had its share of challenges in recent years,” Pierson wrote in her testimony. |
| At the hearing on Tuesday, Pierson was accused of giving a false account of what happened in the latest incident. The service maintained that Gonzalez had had been apprehended just inside the North Portico doors of the White House. It also said that night that the suspect had been unarmed — an assertion that was revealed to be false the next day when officials acknowledged Gonzalez had a knife with him when he was apprehended. | At the hearing on Tuesday, Pierson was accused of giving a false account of what happened in the latest incident. The service maintained that Gonzalez had had been apprehended just inside the North Portico doors of the White House. It also said that night that the suspect had been unarmed — an assertion that was revealed to be false the next day when officials acknowledged Gonzalez had a knife with him when he was apprehended. |