The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has summoned Secret Service Director Julia Pierson to a Sept. 30 hearing on White House security issues after a man sprinted across the lawn Friday and walked into the mansion.
“The recent intrusion of an individual into the White House is the latest in a string of high profile incidents for the Secret Service,” Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said. “These significant security breaches reveal our weaknesses as well as our response capabilities to our nation’s enemies.”
Issa cited recent problems with White House security and the Secret Service in general, including a scandal in 2012 involving agents in Cartagenas bringing paid escorts back to their hotel rooms.
In a court hearing Monday, prosecutors said Omar J. Gonzalez, an Iraq war veteran, scaled the fence on the north lawn, sprinted across the property and gained entry into the White House. He was carrying a 3 1/2- inch folding knife, but agents searched his car and found 800 rounds of ammunition, two hatchets and a machete.
