Secret Service chief on Capitol Hill hot seat over security breach
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson on Tuesday took “full responsibility” for what she called an “unacceptable” intrusion at the White House last week but failed to mollify a bipartisan group of lawmakers who worried that repeat slipups by the elite agency could leave President Obama and his family vulnerable to attack.
Pierson, who came in for blistering, bipartisan criticism for the agency’s shortfalls and evasions, said at the outset of the three-and-a-half-hour hearing that it was “clear that our security plan was not executed properly” on Sept. 19, when an armed man jumped the fence and made it deep into the White House before he was tackled.
She pledged a “complete and thorough investigation” and promised that such an incident “will never happen again.”
But members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform showed little faith in Pierson’s leadership.
And if the recent White House security breach wasn’t embarrassing enough, reports surfaced later in the day that agency protocols also failed during Obama’s recent trip to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The president apparently shared an elevator with a security contractor who was carrying a gun and had three criminal convictions for assault and battery on his record.
During the hearing Tuesday, lawmakers questioned Pierson about a Secret Service report that the White House intruder, Omar Gonzalez, was unarmed, although it was later revealed he had a knife. The committee members noted that it wasn’t until a Washington Post report Monday night that they found out that Gonzalez had made it as far as the Green Room in the White House.
“To the American public, that would be half of a White House tour,” said Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass. “This is disgraceful.”
Lynch noted that Gonzalez, a veteran reportedly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, had been stopped by police in Virginia a month earlier with “small arsenal” of weapons and a map that showed the White House. He then showed up at the White House in August, with a hatchet.
“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?”
At the White House, press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama “does continue to have confidence in the men and women of the Secret Service to perform their very difficult task with professionalism and with the kind of dedication that you would expect.”
Investigating incident
Pierson, who met with lawmakers in a closed session after the public hearing, said she was still investigating why a team of officers failed to stop Gonzalez as he raced across the lawn and why the agency’s trained guard dogs were not released. She said in answer to questions that the officers do have the authority to “leverage lethal force when appropriate.”
Several Republicans on the committee called for a more robust reaction to fence jumpers, with Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, noting that the agency had sent out a press release congratulating itself for showing “restraint” in apprehending Gonzalez.
“That’s not what we’re looking for,” Chaffetz said, adding, “I want it to be crystal clear. You make a run and a dash to the White House, we’re going to take you down. I want overwhelming force.”
But other members said the Secret Service has alternatives to shooting, with Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., noting that with staffers, tourists and other visitors, he’d fear a shootout on the lawn of a very “busy and bustling place.”
Former Secret Service Director Ralph Basham testified that a man who came over the White House fence in 1976 was shot and killed because officers believed he had a weapon in his hand. It turned out to be a pipe, and criticism followed, Basham said.
“We could easily be sitting here today discussing why an Iraq war veteran, possibly suffering through the awful curse of post-traumatic stress disorder, was shot dead on the North Lawn, rather than being tackled at the front door,” he said, noting that such decisions are difficult.
Pierson said the agency interviewed Gonzalez after the Virginia incident, met with his family and looked at his medical records. She said he was cooperative and told them that his map was given to him by someone recommending Washington sightseeing locations. She noted the agency’s options were limited by the fact Gonzalez hadn’t made threats.
“It’s a very difficult thing for people dealing with disabilities and people dealing with mental illness when they don’t exhibit any unusual direction of interest in our protectees,” she said. “Mr. Gonzalez, at the time, denied any interest or any intent to harm anyone.”
Pierson said the agency already has begun to learn from its mistakes. The front door to the White House was unlocked at the time of the incident, but now it has an automated lock.
Gonzalez has been indicted on federal and local charges stemming from the Sept. 19 break-in.
Gonzalez, 42, has been charged with one count of entering and remaining a restricting building and grounds, a federal offense that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, according to an indictment filed by the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Gonzalez, a troubled Iraq war veteran from Copperas Cove, Texas, has also been charged with one count each of carrying a dangerous weapon outside a home or business, and unlawful possession of ammunition, both of which are offenses in the District of Columbia.
According to the federal prosecutors, Gonzalez was carrying a Spyderco VG-10 knife with a 3.5-inch blade, and was also in possession of hundreds of rounds of ammunition in a car parked nearby, including 12-gauge shotgun shells, 9mm rounds and rounds for a sniper rifle.
This story was originally published October 1, 2014 at 6:26 AM with the headline "Secret Service chief on Capitol Hill hot seat over security breach."