Secret Service

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Arrogant Secret Service Needs Outsider's Overhaul

Critics say agency's main task these days is covering up its own incompetence

(Newser) - Secret Service chief Julia Pierson's defense of her agency before Congress seems only to have made people angrier. At Politico Magazine , Ronald Kessler delivers a blistering criticism in which he alleges not only incompetence—for stuff like this and this —but arrogance that is off the charts. As...

Secret Service Let Obama on Elevator With Armed Felon

The guy wouldn't stop filming the president with his phone

(Newser) - And the hits just keep on coming for the Secret Service: The Washington Examiner today reports on yet another serious lapse in security involving President Obama. The latest incident occurred just two weeks ago when the president traveled to Atlanta to visit the CDC—and ended up in an elevator...

Secret Service: White House Front Doors Now Lock Automatically

Julia Pierson hauled before Congress on security lapses

(Newser) - Today's Walk of Shame is brought to you by Julia Pierson, director of the bumbling Secret Service currently being grilled by frothing members of the House Oversight Committee on the not-inconsequential matter of how a heavily-armed Omar Gonzalez was able to get deep inside the White House . Calling the...

Fence-Jumper Got Deep Inside White House: Report

Omar Gonzalez overpowered guard, passed First Family's quarters

(Newser) - The fence-jumper who bolted across the White House lawn with a knife this month made it further than previously admitted—inside the building and within a stone's throw of the First Family's living quarters, the Washington Post reports. Insiders say former Army soldier Omar Gonzalez overpowered a Secret...

How the Secret Service 'Bungled' White House Shooting

Agency didn't even know White House had been hit: investigation

(Newser) - The Secret Service fumbled its response to a 2011 attack on the White House so badly that the president and Michelle Obama were furious with the agency behind closed doors, according to a Washington Post investigation. The Post's article—apparently based on documents, radio transmissions, and interviews with key...

Accused White House Intruder Had Lots of Ammo

Omar Gonzalez was also armed in previous arrest: prosecutors

(Newser) - A former Army soldier accused of sprinting across the White House lawn and into the executive mansion on Friday had over 800 rounds of ammunition, a machete, and two hatchets in his car, prosecutors said today. They made their allegations during a 20-minute federal hearing where the suspect, Omar Gonzalez,...

We Are Not Paying for Secret Service's Screw-Up

The answer here is not more security measures: Petula Dvorak

(Newser) - The crack "security gurus" of the Secret Service suffered another epic fail on Friday , and today the Washington Post was among media outlets reporting that the agency is considering extra security measures to prevent a recurrence. No, writes Petula Dvorak at the Post . Before we go "shutting down...

Secret Service Mulls White House Checkpoints Blocks Away

After major security breach, Secret Service considering various options

(Newser) - The Secret Service, sporting a new black eye after Omar Gonzalez hopped a White House fence and walked right through the front door , is considering a range of measures to increase security at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Although the agency's director immediately added surveillance and officers around the White House,...

Second Man Arrested Trying to Get Into White House

A day after guy gets into building

(Newser) - A man who drove up to a White House gate and refused to leave was arrested today, the Secret Service said, less than 24 hours after another man jumped the fence and made it all the way into the presidential residence before being apprehended. The second incident started when a...

Fence Jumper Makes It Inside White House

He is captured inside doors without incident, taken to hospital

(Newser) - Some White House fence breaches are more serious than others. Unlike last month's laugher when a toddler snuck through, a man hopped the fence yesterday about 7:20pm and actually made it inside the White House, reports NBC News . Most who make it over the fence get tackled on...

Feds Question Man After Alleged Obama Threat

They locate vehicle in Connecticut after alert; no charges so far

(Newser) - With President Obama visiting Rhode Island yesterday evening, the Secret Service issued alerts to police in Connecticut in New York to be on the lookout for someone headed their way in a blue Jetta who might be out to harm the president, reports NECN . State police in Connecticut located the...

Toddler Breaches White House Fence, Gets Timeout

He squeezed through gap, causing security alarm

(Newser) - The White House was briefly locked down yesterday evening as Secret Service members scrambled to intercept what turned out to be a minor threat: a toddler who had given his parents the slip and squeezed through the White House fence. Agents swiftly returned the boy to his parents, the Washington ...

High Court: IQ Test Alone Can't Decide Death Penalty

Plus: Justices favor Secret Service in free-speech ruling

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today ruled that states must look beyond an IQ score in borderline cases of mental disability to determine whether a death row inmate is eligible to be executed. The justices said in a 5-4 decision that Florida and a handful of other states cannot rely solely on...

Driver Who Caused White House Scare Was 'Confused'

IRS employee says he blundered into motorcade

(Newser) - A wrong turn that caused national news: The driver who caused a White House security scare by following a motorcade carrying President Obama's daughters into a restricted area was apparently just confused, authorities say. Mathew Goldstein—an IRS IT specialist described by a friend as "brilliant but absent-minded"...

Secret Service Tightens Booze Rules—Slightly

Supervisor demoted after multiple incidents

(Newser) - Between suspected drinking and driving and passing out in a hallway , Secret Service agents haven't been exhibiting model behavior recently. Now, some in the service are paying the price. The head of the key special operations division has been demoted, insiders tell the Washington Post , while some two dozen...

Secret Service Suspected of Drinking, Crashing Car

As new details about Netherlands debauch come to light

(Newser) - The Secret Service's Netherlands debauch wasn't the agency's first questionable incident this month: Two counter-sniper officers were involved in a car accident on March 7, during President Obama's visit to Miami, and they were suspected of drinking, multiple sources tell the Washington Post . The driver, however,...

Secret Service Sends 'Drunk' Agents Home

One was found passed out in Amsterdam hotel

(Newser) - Three Secret Service agents apparently unable to resist the lure of a Saturday night out in one of Europe's top party cities were sent home in disgrace before President Obama's arrival in Amsterdam this week, insiders tell the Washington Post . Hotel staff alerted the US Embassy after finding...

Feds Investigate Possible Breach at Sears

Chain is 'actively reviewing' its systems, but sees no sign of trouble yet

(Newser) - And now Sears? Bloomberg reports that the Secret Service is investigating a possible security breach at the retailer. There's not much more to the story at this point, and so no way to tell whether this might be something on par with Target's breach . In a statement, Sears...

Man Arrested Climbing White House Fence

He had two bags, but police haven't said what he was up to

(Newser) - Authorities say a man has been arrested trying to climb a fence at the White House this afternoon. The Secret Service says the unidentified man was apprehended before he could get over the fence along the north perimeter. He had two bags with him, and an agency spokesperson say they...

Suspect: I'm 'Working on a Relationship' With Bush Daughter

Secret Service steps in

(Newser) - A man from upstate New York has been charged in a bizarre case involving George W. Bush and his daughter Barbara . Secret Service nabbed Benjamin Smith in Manhattan and say he was sitting in a car with a loaded rifle, a machete, and a can of gasoline, reports Reuters . The...

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