Secret Service head takes onus for White House breach

September 30, 2014 at 11:01 a.m.

by The Associated Press

Secret Service Director Julia Pierson, left, is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, Sept, 30, 2014, prior to testifying before the House Oversight Committee as it examines details surrounding a security breach at the White House when a man climbed over a fence, sprinted across the north lawn and dash deep into the executive mansion before finally being subdued. Pierson is joined at the witness table by Ralph Basham, a former Secret Service director, now a partner with Command Consulting Group, a private security firm, and Todd M. Keil, far right, senior adviser with TorchStone Page, a private security firm.
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson, left, is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, Sept, 30, 2014, prior to testifying before the House Oversight Committee as it examines details surrounding a security breach at the White House when a man climbed over a fence, sprinted across the north lawn and dash deep into the executive mansion before finally being subdued. Pierson is joined at the witness table by Ralph Basham, a former Secret Service director, now a partner with Command Consulting Group, a private security firm, and Todd M. Keil, far right, senior adviser with TorchStone Page, a private security firm.

WASHINGTON — Facing blistering criticism from Congress, Secret Service Director Julia Pierson acknowledged Tuesday the agency failed in executing its plan to protect the White House when a man with a knife entered the mansion and ran through half the ground floor before being subdued.

"It's unacceptable," Pierson told lawmakers, promising a review of how the storied but blemished agency carries out its mission of protecting the president and how it failed to intercept the intruder much earlier.

"I'll make sure that it does not happen again," she said, declaring that she took full responsibility for the failures.

Pierson disclosed that there have been six fence-jumpers this year alone, including one just eight days before Army veteran Omar J. Gonzalez scaled the fence on Sept. 19.

Pierson appeared Tuesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Read Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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