WASHINGTON
Most Washington scandals that end up on Capitol Hill tend to end the same way: with an apology.
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson will face lawmakers Tuesday for the first public accounting of the details surrounding an embarrassing and worrisome security breach at the White House earlier this month that, according to a congressman, was worse than the Secret Service has publicly acknowledged. The question is, will she follow the script?
At the very least, Pierson will have to explain how a man armed with a small knife managed to climb over a White House fence, sprint across the north lawn and dash deep into the executive mansion before finally being subdued. And she is certain to face tough questions about why members of Congress briefed by the agency apparently weren’t told of the full extent of the breach when she appears before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, RUtah, said Monday night that whistleblowers told his committee that the intruder ran through the White House, into the East Room and near the doors to the Green Room before being apprehended. They also reported to lawmakers that accused intruder Omar J. Gonzalez made it past a female guard stationed inside the White House, Chaffetz said.
In the hours after the Sept. 19 fence-jumper incident, Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan told The Associated Press that Gonzalez had been apprehended just inside the North Portico doors of the White House. The agency also said that night the Army veteran 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.
Senate Judiciary Committee staffers who were briefed about the investigation by the administration a week after the incident were never told how far Gonzalez made it into the building, according to a congressional official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation and requested anonymity. The official said the committee later was told that the suspect had, indeed, made it far beyond the front door.
Citing multiple unnamed sources, The Washington Post reported that Gonzalez ran past the guard at the front door, past a staircase leading up to the Obamas’ living quarters and into the East Room, which is about halfway across the first floor of the building. Gonzalez was eventually “tackled” by a counter-assault agent, the Post said.
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