WASHINGTON - A man who jumped the White House fence this month made it far deeper into the president's home than previously disclosed, overpowering a female Secret Service agent inside the North Portico entrance and running through the East Room before he was tackled, according to a congressional official familiar with the details of the incident.
The man, Omar J. Gonzalez, was finally stopped as he tried to enter the Green Room, the official said. Earlier, Secret Service officials had said Mr. Gonzalez, 42, had only made it steps inside the North Portico after running through the front door.
The new development, first reported by The Washington Post, will create an explosive hearing on Tuesday when a bipartisan panel of lawmakers intends to grill Julia Pierson, the director of the Secret Service, about whether a lax and undisciplined culture inside the long-heralded agency has badly eroded its ability to protect the president and his family, several members of Congress said Monday.
Omar J. Gonzalez, Accused of White House Intrusion, Is Recalled as Good but Troubled Neighbor
White House Intruder's Past Raises Concern Breach Prompts Review of White House Security Entities 0 Name: Secret Service Count: 3 1 Name: Omar J. Gonzalez Count: 2 2 Name: North Portico Count: 2 3 Name: White House Count: 1 4 Name: Gonzalez Count: 1 5 Name: Congress Count: 1 6 Name: Green Room Count: 1 7 Name: East Room Count: 1 8 Name: Past Raises Concern Breach Prompts Review of White House Count: 1 9 Name: WASHINGTON Count: 1 10 Name: Julia Pierson Count: 1 11 Name: The Washington Post Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1uX36lO Title: Secret Service chief reviews White House breaches Description: Washington: The Secret Service director is reviewing her agency's actions in a 2011 shooting at the White House as well as during an intrusion this month by an armed Texas man who got through the North Portico front door before he was stopped, the deputy national security adviser said on Sunday.
