Video Keywords
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson is testifying on Capitol Hill as new details emerge about a White House security breach earlier this month. Omar Gonzalez allegedly overpowered an agent and got all the way to the East Room before being stopped.
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Sept. 30, 2014.(Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)
WASHINGTON — Secret Service Director Julia Pierson appeared before a House committee Tuesday after mounting disclosures about dramatic White House security breaches.
Pierson's appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee marked the director's first public statements about how an Army veteran managed to scale a perimeter fence on Sept. 19 and burst into the White House where he made it all the way to the mansion's East Room before he was stopped.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that it was an off-duty Secret Service agent who was leaving for the night who finally tackled the intruder. But Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., a member of the House Panel reviewing the agency's actions, disputed that story. He said his briefing on the matter indicated that two on-duty agents tackled the intruder and that others, possibly including off-duty officers, rushed to assist.
Initial reports about the breach stated that Omar Gonzalez, armed with a knife, had been stopped immediately inside the front door.
Pierson, who took over as director of the Secret Service 18 months ago, was also questioned closely about a 2011 incident in which the agency failed to recognize that the White House had been struck by several rounds of gunfire until damage was found days later by staffers.
In a prepared statement in advance of the hearing, Pierson said she took "full responsibility'' for the Gonzalez breach.
"What happened is unacceptable and will never happen again,'' she said.
"As director, my primary concern is the operational readiness of my workforce and, over the past 18 months, I have worked to proactively address all aspects of presidential protection and the security of the White House complex.''
Pierson said she has initiated a "comprehensive review'' of the incident that would include a determination of "necessary personnel actions.''
Early in the hearing, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said that the country has "placed great trust'' in the Secret Service and referred to the $1.5 billion that funds the agency.
But he said a "history of misbehavior'' has tarnished the agency's reputation. The Gonzalez incident represented a breach of five layers of security, he said, and he went on to list a catalog of other missteps, beginning with the 2009 crashing of a White House state dinner by an uninvited couple, agents consorting with prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia, and a drinking incident in the Netherlands earlier this year.
"We have to ask whether the culture of the Secret Service has been impacting the operation,'' he said. "How much would it cost to lock the front door of the White House?''
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the panel's ranking Democrat, said the Sept. 19 incident prompts questions about "a broader problem with the Secret Service.''
A clearly agitated Cummings said the breach, along with recent disclosures about the 2011 shooting, raises questions about "the culture and competency'' of the elite protective agency.
The Gonzalez breach was particularly disturbing, he said, because the man had been stopped by authorities beforehand and was found with "a small arsenal'' of weapons and directions to the White House.
"This, ladies and gentleman, is not a Democratic issue," he said. "This is not a Republican issue. This is an American issue.''
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson, former Secret Service director William Ralph Basham Jr. and former assistant Homeland Security secretary for infrastructure protection Todd M. Keil are sworn in before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on White House security breaches.(Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)
Pierson said Gonzalez had not violated any laws when, months before the Sept. 19 intrusion, police encountered him and discovered weapons and a map highlighting the White House in his car. Gonzalez told officers that the map had been given to him by a friend to highlight places he might visit during a sightseeing trip, she said.
Then on Aug. 25, when Gonzalez was observed carrying a hatchet along the south fence line of the White House complex, Pierson said the man was questioned and agreed to place the hatchet in his car.
"He appeared to be living out of his car,'' she said, adding again that Gonzalez had not violated any laws and was cooperative with authorities.
Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., offered an inventory of weapons Gonzalez was carrying in his car during his first encounter with police months before the Sept. 19 incident.
"Then he shows up at the White House with a hatchet in his belt. No red flags and you let him go,'' Lynch said.
"When do the red flags go up for the Secret Service? This is disgraceful,'' he said, adding that the distance Gonzalez traveled inside the White House represented half a public tour of the White House.
"I wish you spent the time protecting the White House that you spent protecting your reputation here today,'' Lynch said.
Pierson sat silently before interjecting: "Let me be clear, the United States Secret Service does not take any of these incidents lightly.''
But Lynch pressed on, saying that he had "very low confidence in the Secret Service under your leadership.''
Pierson acknowledged under questioning by Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., that Gonzalez's entry into the White House constituted a real "threat'' had President Obama and his family been home at the time.
"The reaction of the Secret Service was profoundly inadequate,'' Connolly said, adding that he did not sense the director expressed appropriate "outrage'' at the failure.
"We all are outraged at the Secret Service,'' Pierson responded.
Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., called the Gonzalez incident a "stunning, outrageous, disgraceful breach.''
"Right now, you are protecting the most threatened American president in our nation's history,'' Cartwright said. "It's kind of a bad time for this to happen.''
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said the agency's presidential protective operation was especially important because, she said, President Obama faced three times the number of threats as previous occupants of the White House.
"This is not a mere question of personnel,'' she said. "No scenario should be off the table. ... The White House and president have been thrust into a new era of danger."
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said he has "serious concerns'' about the agency's current leadership. He cited the 2011 incident in which eight shots were fired at the White House. Although several witnesses and officers noted the gunfire, Chaffetz said, the agency failed to react immediately.
"We want to see overwhelming force,'' Chaffetz said. "Don't let somebody get close to the president. … If they have to take action that is lethal, I will have their back.''
Of the Gonzalez incident, Pierson said, "It is clear that our security plan was not properly executed.'' She said the ongoing review is evaluating ''all decisions made that evening,'' including tactics and use of force.
Under questioning by Issa, Pierson said the front door was unlocked when Gonzalez entered and there was not an automated locking device to secure it at the time of the breach. The director said such an automated locking device has since been installed.
Gonzalez knocked back the officer at the door, she said, made a left down the hall and was taken down just outside the Green Room, where he was placed in handcuffs.
Officers do have authority, "when appropriate,'' to use lethal force when intruders attempt to gain access to the White House, Pierson said, but it is up to the officers' judgment as to whether intruders represent imminent threats.
Of the 2011 shooting incident, Pierson defended the Secret Service's response, saying that it took time to evaluate the events of that evening and the damage done to the White House.
But she said she was specifically troubled by recent reports that a young Secret Service officer who was on duty during that shooting later told investigators that she was instructed to disregard the incident, and she did not challenge her supervisors because she feared possible criticism.
"Ultimately, the officer was right,'' Pierson said.
In a tense exchange with Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., Pierson acknowledged that evidence of the gunfire was not discovered until three to four days after the attack. Ultimately, a White House housekeeper discovered broken glass on the Truman Balcony.
"Can you tell me why a housekeeper found the evidence and your agents did not?'' Gowdy asked. "Why not search every inch of the White House? This is just processing a crime scene; this is not high math. Why wasn't it done?''
"It was not as thorough as it needed to be,'' Pierson responded..
Deep into the hearing, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., prompted muffled laughter when he held up the sign of a private home security company to ask why an alarm did not sound when a bullet pierced the window glass of the White House in 2011.
"Did you ever hear of these guys?'' Mica said, displaying an ADT security sign.
One of the harshest condemnations of the Secret Service's recent security lapses and Pierson's leadership was voiced by Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev.
"I believe you have done a disservice to the president of the United States,'' Horsford said, expressing doubt about the agency's competence going forward.
"Has there been any disciplinary action against any of the people'' involved in the Gonzalez incident? Horsford asked.
"People should be held accountable,'' he said.
Pierson replied that an investigation was continuing.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/YMnYli
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1vuXNeW
0 comments:
Post a Comment