Secret Service chief appears at House hearing, takes blame for White House security breach

A contrite Secret Service director today accepted the blame for a breach of security that enabled an uninvited Virginia couple to gain access to a state dinner at the White House, as members of Congress spoke of compelling the White House social secretary to testify as well.

Three members of the Secret Service have been placed on paid administrative leave for the breach of security, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said, maintaining that the security breakdown was not an institutional problem.

“I believe it was an isolated incident,” Sullivan said. “I think it’s due just to poor judgment.”

Rep. Peter King of New York, the ranking Republican on the committee holding a hearing today on the security breach, said before the hearing that he will support subpoenas compelling the testimony of Tareq and Michaele Salahi as well as Desiree Rogers, the White House secretary.

Testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee, Mark Sullivan, the director of the Secret Service, said, “In our line of work, we cannot afford even one mistake.

He acknowledged that the Salahis, who managed to enter the White House grounds and greet the president and other officials before the state dinner in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week had not been vetted as they passed through two security checkpoints.

“This is our fault and our fault alone,” Sullivan said.

A decision not to post White House staff at the checkpoints in addition to Secret Service was a “joint recommendation” agreed upon at a pre-dinner planning meeting, Sullivan said, adding that he did not know if that had originated with the Secret Service or the White House.

Checkpoints have been manned by the Secret Service alone at past events, he said, but he could not remember if those events were state dinners. The chairman and ranking Republican on the committee have said that they want to hear from Rogers, but she has declined to appear, with the White House citing executive privilege.

King, dismissing the executive privilege claim, said, “I could accept their argument if this was any policy, but this is involves an administrative act by an appointee of the president,” King said.

The Republican also acknowledged that he had spoken with Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and does not expect the Salahis or Rogers to appear this week.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today that “we’d be happy to look at” any subpoena that the committee produces.

But “there’s a pretty long history of ensuring White House staff can provide advice to the president and do so confidentially,” Gibbs said of the privilege that the White House is citing.

Thompson said before the hearing that Congress needs to hear from all three. Thompson had said Wednesday night that if the Salahis did not appear, the committee was prepared to approve subpoenas to compel their testimony.

“This hearing is not about crashing a party at the White House,” Thompson said. “Nor is it about wannabe celebrities.” The purpose, he said, is to protect the president.

“The security gaps at issue cannot be explained away as missteps by a few frontline employees,” Thompson said. “There were undeniable planning and execution failures of the entire Secret Service apparatus. We’re all fortunate that this diplomatic celebration did not become a night of horror. . . . We must dissect every fact . . . and after we do these things, we need to give thanks that no lives were lost.”

Addressing the committee as the sole witness at today’s hearing, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan conceded that “in our judgment, a mistake was made. In our line of work, we cannot afford even one mistake.”

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina has written, in a memorandum published at the White House website, that he has spoken with Rogers and has ordered new procedures to avert a recurrence of what happened at last week’s state dinner.

“After reviewing our actions, it is clear that the White House did not do everything we could have done to assist the United States Secret Service in ensuring that only invited guests enter the complex,” Messina wrote. “White House staff were walking back and forth outside between the check points helping guests and were available to the Secret Service throughout the evening, but clearly we can do more, and we will do more.”

From now on, he wrote, “White House staff will be stationed physically at the check points with the United States Secret Service. Guests will be checked off of the list by White House staff and the Secret Service will continue to ensure that all guests have been properly cleared before entering the White House. Guests whose names are not on the guest list will be assisted by White House staff present at the check point for appropriate resolution.”

As always, he noted, the Secret Service will be responsible for security “and remain ultimately responsible for controlling access to the White House complex.”

Wire services contributed to this report.

Christi Parsons contributed to this report.

khennessey@tribune.com

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