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Secret Service Shouldn't Take Blame for White House Crasher Scandal

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Security is and always will be a tight rope walk in any open society. If the SS was to do it's job to the fullest, guest would be subjected to a much more rigorous and in depth screening and searches. 90 day back ground checks and body searches would be the norm. And the white house tour, press conferences, public appearances. forget it. If there was an error it was on the side of open access and yes that is a security issue. But who controls access and who enforces it. The White House controls it, the SS enforces it, and by historical precedent when any tow government agencies are responsible for something there must be a clear and proscribed hierarchy in place or there will be mistakes. As with the military there should be a clear and documented chain of responsibility for every aspect of the event.
I think a possible solution is to put a social liaison office from the white house social secretary's off in the White House SS office and a SS liaison on the White House social secretary's office. Just to make sure that every body is reading from the same piece of music for any and all presidential public events.

Kevin C. of MO 6:28AM December 07, 2009

The Scary thing about the "crash" by uninvited persons is that the security
of the White House had been and compromised .
I don't think that the President and his social secretary understand high level
security and compromise .
What is the Department of Defense doing giving clearances to anyone into
the White House .
I recall the days of General Curtis LeMay (sp) and the Strategic Air Command .
That was real security .
I truly hope that The Pres. and his staff take this last compromise very
seriously - hire a very competent Security Chief ;that the Social Secretary
become personally involved in EVERY event and not sit with the guests for pictures .
Caution -she should know how well all of her subordinates are trained in high
level security .
We're all human and can err- it's how well we can learn from our errors .
Your "Brother " in His Love .
CE(Chuck)Williams

CE(Chuck) williams of WA 3:23AM December 07, 2009

Gentlemen -
Thanks for your honest assessment. The idea that the SS was permitted to take the fall gives me great concern about an administration that was keen on transparency and honesty.
SInce it's has been repeatedly established that there was not inherent safety issue since these folks were actually screened in the same manner as the other 300+ guests, then it is fair to say that the SS, even after considering the variables and mitigating circumstances.... not to mention the lack of staff on scene to resolve the couple's legitimate or manufactured confusion due to conflicting emails, voicemails, etc., was at fault for not adhering to its own policy the same way that a highway patrolman is guilty of violating his/her own department's policies, when they let you drive off after having pulled you over for traffic violation.
Poor use of discretion? Maybe, but not a "failing" as has been described.

Art Klein of AZ 1:01PM December 06, 2009

"Firstly, you accuse the Obama administration of "throwing Mark Sullivan, head of the Secret Service, to the wolves of Congress". Yet, you criticize him for not throwing his staff to those same wolves".
- yes, why is Desiree Rogers NOT thrown in there? maybe because while in front of Congress she will be found at fault.... or maybe because she's too busy striking a pose on the fashion sections of the WSJ in Viktor & Rolf, or next to Valeri Jarret on the cover of Capitol Files.
"why should not Mr. Sullivan testify? He is the head of the Secret Service. They are responsible for security".
-yes, S-E-C-U-R-I-T-Y. Since when is the SS in charge of event planning?... oh yeah, ever since Obama walked into the WH, brought in D.Rogers, D.Rogers let go of the last social secretary, citing, I kid you not (something along the lines of) 'In these hard economic times we won't be holding lavish events, therefore we will not needing your services, thanks, DLTDHYOYWO'). So technically yes, the SS is at fault, ONLY because D.Rogers dumped the responsibility on to them.
So now The One is citing seperation of powers, not sending D.Rogers, and *changing* policy so this will never happen again... isn't he so dreamy? (barf)
*by changing they mean going back to the policy that used to be in place before D.Rogers showed up and having event planning staff at the doors doing their jobs*

Che of CA 3:40AM December 06, 2009

In the last administration, a rep from the WH social secretary's office was always with the SS gate guards to make sure that invitations were checked and straight, and that last minute changes were accounted for. That didn't happen here. The guards were checking the guests and running their SSNs, fingerprints, and checking for weapons, but there was no representative of the event organizers at the gate. I understand they let go the person who had previously done this work. It was a screw up by the WH staff, not the Secret Service.
This incident will probably result in improved security, though. They can't let it happen again. It is now less likely that a martial arts expert could waltz into a State Dinner and kill the guest of honor with a plastic nunchuck or a poison dart - unless he could get on the guest list.

Andrew P of VA 8:17AM December 05, 2009

Doug and Thomas,
Don't look now, but your bias is showing. I could hardly read past the third paragraph without becoming nauseated. Is U.S. News and World Report sponsoring an Amateur Hour? I had to scroll back up to make sure that this was from U.S. News and World Report.
Firstly, you accuse the Obama administration of "throwing Mark Sullivan, head of the Secret Service, to the wolves of Congress". Yet, you criticize him for not throwing his staff to those same wolves.
Secondly, if it was such a breach that "obviously Congress was going to investigate", then why should not Mr. Sullivan testify? He is the head of the Secret Service. They are responsible for security.
Thirdly, what does "President Barack Obama's golfing partners" have to do with the price of tea in China? If that was such a "non-issue", why bring it back up? Was it just a cheap shot you wanted to sneak in?
I pray that this job is not your sole soure of income.

Charles MJ of FL 6:57AM December 05, 2009

Unfortunately for the basis of your argument about the white hose staff checking guests, Secret Service Director Sullivan testified at the hearing on this matter that the Secret Service has sole resposibility for checking persons attempting to enter the white house. He claims if the persons were not on the list, they should not have been passed through. The white house staff has neither the training,the access to records or the authority to overide the secret service.To his knowledge, this has never happened. Doug Heye of course knows this but he relies on the basic ignorance of government operations of his followers and their almost total lack of interest in learning the truth. Let's face it he worked for Bush,the worst president in history, whose father engineered the drugs and arms swaps that destabilized half the world,formed a thirty year close friendship with the Bin Laden family and upon leaving the Presidency himself, signed on as an advisor to Saudi Arabia to help them ruin our economy. GRandfather Prescott was the financial wizard who managed Hitler's forign accounts. If you think for one minute this bunch and Doug care at all about America, you're dreaming. All of what I said is in the public records, stop listening to these traitors and do some reseach on your own. If you care about your country!

Dan of NJ 9:14PM December 04, 2009

These people were not on the guest list. A secret service agent decided to let them in anyway... And Doug Heye is defending this decision? Seriously? What is your agenda? I've never read your blog before, but this is genuinely stupid.
Obama and White House have been respectful of the Secret Service, which is the right thing to do. No one is being "thrown under a bus." But what about personal responsibility Doug? The agent who made that choice should definitely be fired. I'm sorry, everyone makes mistakes, but that is mind-boggling. If I were President and this happened, people would be so fired by now.
All of this gossip of D. Rogers and the White House being to blame, get real. You really can't see basic facts - in the simplest situation - through your agenda, can you?

Chris in Brooklyn of NY 8:55PM December 04, 2009

The Secret Service is to blame. The White House Staff sends out the invitations & distributes the guest list to the Secret Service. The Secret Service Agents at the doors and gates are the first line of defense. The Secret Service does not have the authority to allow entry without permission. When encountering unauthorized guest they were to detain the guest notify their superivisor and allow entry only after receiving personal and written authorization from the White House Staff and their supervisor. The agents in question over stepped their authority. These people could have been enemy's of the USA carrying biological weapons. We are all lucky it was only a couple of idiots that were allowed in.

EPJ of GA 1:52PM December 04, 2009

White House staffers are responsible! I, as a taxpayer, am incensed that a White House staffer would take the time to e-mail "perceived socialites" about State events and even take the time to try to secure tickets without this couple having a security clearance. Doesn't speak well for White House staffers that they are at the beck and call of people they consider "society." If they are that impressed with people that appear so superficial and who could possibly compromise national security, there's a problem. Looks as though the Secret Service trusted White House staffers too much. I am an Obama supporter but incidents such as this is just plain stupid!

Bren of GA 1:00PM December 04, 2009