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| Armed contractor with criminal record was on elevator with Obama in Atlanta | Armed contractor with criminal record was on elevator with Obama in Atlanta |
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| A security contractor with a gun and three prior convictions for assault and battery was allowed on an elevator with President Obama during a Sept. 16 trip to Atlanta, violating Secret Service protocols, according to three people familiar with the incident. | A security contractor with a gun and three prior convictions for assault and battery was allowed on an elevator with President Obama during a Sept. 16 trip to Atlanta, violating Secret Service protocols, according to three people familiar with the incident. |
| The incident, which rattled Secret Service agents assigned to the president’s detail, occurred as Obama visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discuss the U.S. response to the Ebola crisis. | |
| The private contractor aroused the detail agents’ concerns when he 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. | |
| Agents questioned the man when they exited the elevator, and then used a national database check to learn of his criminal history. | |
| When a supervisor from the private security firm approached and learned of the agents’ concerns, the contractor was fired on the spot and agreed to turn over his gun — surprising agents, who had not realized he was armed during his encounter with Obama. | |
| Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said he was appalled when whistleblowers came forward to him with this account. The Washington Post confirmed details of the event with other people familiar with an agency review of the incident. | |
| “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. “ | “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.” | |
| It appears President Obama was not aware of how security standards fell down in close quarters during his Atlanta trip. In response to a question, Secret Service Director Julia Pierson told laaid she briefs the president “100% of the time” when his personal security has been breached, but said that has only happened one time this year: soonafter a man jumped over the White House fence Sept. 19 and was able to burst into the mansion. | |
| Elements of the breach were first reported Tuesday afternoon by the Washington Examiner. | Elements of the breach were first reported Tuesday afternoon by the Washington Examiner. |
| It is the latest in a string of embarrassments for the Secret Service, whose director, Julia Pierson, drew criticism Tuesday from lawmakers in both parties during a combative hearing that focused on her agency’s security lapses. The hearing focused on a man who was able to foil Secret Service officers by jumping the White House fence | |
| A Secret Service spokesman said the agency would provide a response soon. | A Secret Service spokesman said the agency would provide a response soon. |
| The security contractor became upset with agents who asked him to stop filming the president with his camera phone, behavior that led agents to question him. | |
| President Obama appears not to have been told of the security breach in his Atlanta elevator. | |
| The elevator incident exposed a serious breakdown in the Secret Service’s most basic protocols for keeping the president safe from strangers when he travels. In close quarters or small events, when the president is on the road, all of the people who could have access to him must be checked in advance for weapons and any criminal history. | |
| Under a security program called the Arm’s Reach Program, Secret Service advance staff run potential staff, contractors, hotel employees, invited guests and volunteers through several databases, including a national criminal information registry, and records kept by the CIA, NSA and Department of Defense, among others. Anyone who is found to have a criminal history, mental illness, or other indications of risk is barred from entry. | |
| Local police and federal officers are not checked in the same way under the Arm’s Reach Program, with the Secret Service presuming they meet the safety standards because of their employment. But private security contractors would be checked, two former agents who worked on advance planning for presidential trips said. | |
| Two former advance agents said that, for nearly every trip, someone would be barred from attending or participating in a presidential trip because of some prior or current problem found in a check of their name. Usually, it involved a local Democratic or Republican party campaign volunteer who was offering to help drive staff to and from events during the visit – but had an assault conviction. | |
| Director Julia Pierson was briefed on the elevator episode, according to two people familiar with the case, and directed that a supervisory agent on President Obama’s protective detail remain in Atlanta to determine what security standards had broken down. | |
| Former and current agents say this method i |