Posted on 09/30/2014 6:33:49 AM PDT by Textide
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about Secret Service security protocols following a September 19 White House intruder breach.
Hearing starts at 10am Eastern.
C-Span Live: http://www.c-span.org/live/
Fox News article: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/30/white-house-intruder-made-it-to-east-room-officials-say/
Committee on Oversight and Government reform: http://oversight.house.gov/
Chairman Issa Preview Statement: http://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Chairman-Issa-Preview-Statement.pdf
If people can just jump the fence and go wherever they want to get into this country, why can’t they jump the fence and go wherever they want in the White House?
Sounds reasonable to me……………..
Inexplicably, Omar Gonzalez breached at least “Five Rings” of security on September 19th. The White House complex is supposed to be one of the most secure facilities in the country, if not the world. So, how on earth did this happen? This failure has once again tested the trust of the American people in the Secret Service – a trust already strained by a string of recent scandals.
From allowing paparazzi-craving-reality-TV “stars” to crash a State Dinner, to engaging with prostitutes in Cartagena, and excessive drinking in the Netherlands, the Secret Service has encountered some serious problems recently. Just this weekend, there are new reports of a mishandled response in 2011 to a gunman who sprayed bullets into the White House, causing nearly $100,000 in damage.
Morale at the agency appears in decline. In light of the recent break-in, we have to ask whether the culture at the Secret Service and declining morale have impacted operational security. We will be asking tough questions today. The appointment of Director Pierson brought the hope that the agency would reclaim its noble image – but recent events show the troubles facing the agency are far from over.
Chris Plante just saying a WaPoo article saying perp at WH overpowered a FEMALE Secret Service agent at the first entrance.
Given my experience as a former Secret Service agent, understandably, I've been asked by many on this page for my opinion on the recent security failures at the White House.
First, let me state that my efforts to explain the situation here are in no way an excuse or an apology for the unacceptable failure to get the job done. One point of pride my fellow agents and I always maintained was a "no excuses" atmosphere and, although I have since moved on from the Secret Service, I maintain relationships with many of the proud men and women who work there and I assure you, they are deeply disturbed by these failures.
With that context in the background, here's what I feel are the systemic problems at the core of the recent failures. For decades, the Secret Service has taken an unwelcome, and inappropriate, subordinate role in the decision making process surrounding the movements of the president.
The importance of superficial DC "optics" has become a DC obsession and, sadly, if preserving "optics" at the expense of security is necessary, then it is a sacrifice that too many of the president's "yes-men" are willing to make. When you combine this with a very small number of self-absorbed and vindictive high-ranking Secret Service managers who care more about their next job and their "contacts" rather than the hard-working agents out there in the world's hotspots, actually doing the work, then the recipe for failure is there.
Again, I'm not providing tactical cover for anyone here. The men and women I know at the Secret Service are a proud group and are enraged by these failures, but do you really believe this happened in a bubble? Unless we correctly diagnose the problem, we will see a reemergence of the disorder.
Finally, it's easy to criticize without proposing solutions (an all too common approach in DC), and I refuse to replicate that strategy. Here's an unfiltered approach to fixing these problems. The jurisdictional mess around the White House has to be cleaned up. Between the Secret Service, the US Park Police, DC Metro PD, the National Park Service, and others such as the White House staff and the White House Historical Association, too many cooks have their hands in the security-soup. Also, the Secret Service role in the decision-making chain at the White House has to be at least co-equal with the White House staff. Any manager within the Secret Service who insists on kneeling at the feet of an 18-year-old White House staff member, while throwing his agents under the bus, in order to maintain his "network", needs to move on ASAP. This is too important of a mission for sycophants. In conclusion, this was a devastating failure, but a systemic problem requires a systemic solution. The many successes of the Secret Service, many of which I was proud to be a part of, are all lost with these recent failures. As the IRA said to British security forces after the failed assassination attempt of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, "We only only have to be lucky once, you have to be lucky everyday." We cannot allow anyone to ever get "lucky" again.
Exactly what I’ve been thinking.
The “reporting” (so called) had all the earmarks of it was some woman the guy just brushed aside! PC strikes again!
Powerful stuff!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/local/files/2014/09/w-secretservice768-v2.jpg
Unless one subscribes to cable TV we can’t get C-Span anymore. I tried the oversite house gov site and I am getting nothing. Is it over with already? If not is there another internet site one can get?
Gotta be politically correct dontcha know.
The hearing is scheduled to start now. C-Span has it scheduled for three hours.
Try this link
http://oversight.house.gov/hearing/white-house-perimeter-breach-new-concerns-secret-service/
Disregard. It requires a cable subscription too. I’ll try and summarize throughout this thread.
Did Barack let him go with a promise to return for a hearing & hall pass?
Opening statement by Issa. He’s flanked by counsel to his left and Elijah Cummings to his right and the rest of the committee filling both ends the table.
Witnesses look like Ms. Peirson, and two others: one to her right and one to the left. Can’t tell who they are.
Statement is basically the same info as in the PDF at the top of this thread.
Why is it whenever I see any Gov’t Committee begun on C-SPAN, I feel the need to shower again?
I would say its not the hardest target on earth.... regardless of what our intent is....
Cummings speaking now. Maybe he’ll sic the IRS on the security of the white house.
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