WASHINGTON - Julia Pierson, the director of the Secret Service, is resigning in the wake of several security breaches, according to administration officials.
The resignation came less than a day after lawmakers from both parties assailed Ms. Pierson's leadership and said they feared for the lives of the president and others in the protection of the agency.
A 30-year veteran of the Secret Service, Ms. Pierson was supposed to have been the one to repair the agency's reputation after scandals that raised questions about a culture that gave rise to incidents involving drinking and prostitution during overseas trips.
But her tenure has been rocked by more serious allegations that her agents and officers have not been performing their primary job competently. Under intense questioning on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Ms. Pierson admitted that those charged with securing the White House had failed to follow numerous security protocols, allowing a man armed with a knife to penetrate deep inside the mansion.
Armed with a knife, Omar J. Gonzalez managed to jump the fence of the White House, sprint 70 yards, enter the unlocked front door, overpower a Secret Service agent and run into the ceremonial East Room. He was eventually tackled as he tried to enter the Green Room, a parlor used for receptions and teas. Related article '
Secret Service was slow to identify and respond to an incident in which a man with a semiautomatic weapon fired shots into the south side of the White House, smashing a window in the first family's residence and causing over $100,000 in damage. Related article '
Michaele and Tareq Salahi, then a married couple aspiring to be featured on 'The Real Housewives of D.C.,' managed to get past Secret Service checkpoints for President Obama's first state dinner without being on the guest list. The couple was photographed meeting the president and Vice President Joseph R. Biden, among others. Related article '
And late Tuesday, the agency acknowledged that just days before the White House breach, an armed man was allowed to ride in an elevator with the president during an event at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Thought the last two weeks, Mr. Obama's aides had repeatedly declared that he retained full confidence in the agency and in Ms. Pierson's ability to lead it. But the disclosures in the past few days - including revelations that the Secret Service had not been fully forthcoming about the details of the incidents - appear to have been too much. Lawmakers Rebuke Secret Service Chief Over White House Breach News Analysis: Showing Concern for the President, Even While Criticizing Him Secret Service Rules Violated on Obama's Trip to Atlanta An Ever-Expanding List of Unwelcome Visitors to the White House
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