Secret Service’s Sullivan Takes the Hot Seat

Head bowed, U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan mumbled (or maybe his microphone is just too far away, but for those of us in the room he’s incredibly hard to hear) his way through a morning of tough questions at a House Homeland Security Committee oversight hearing about how a social climbing couple managed to breach White House security to crash the Nov. 24th State Dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Tareq and Michaele Salahi brazenly snapped photos with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Vice President Joe Biden and, the White House admitted a day later, even shook hands with President Obama on the reception line.

“How in the world did a couple get through all the way to the President of the United States?” asked an incredulous Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican.

“Sir, I’ve asked myself that question about a thousand times over the last week,” Sullivan responded.

Desiree’s (sure to be) Bad Day

Tomorrow morning at 10am on the third floor of the Cannon House Office building, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson will convene a hearing examining “the security breach at the White House State Dinner on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The committee will look at deficiencies in security planning, actions taken to correct vulnerabilities and any management [...]