Just a day after the former director of The Secret Services resigned over fence-jumper-gate, Bloomberg reports [3] yet another SNAFU in the President's security - a man posing as a New Jersey member of Congress made it into a secure area backstage at President Obama’s appearance at a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation awards dinner in Washington Sept. 27. Rather stunningly, The Secret Service admits "this guy went through security, fully screened."
An unidentified man posing as a member of Congress made it into a secure area backstage at President Barack Obama’s appearance at a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation awards dinner in Washington Sept. 27, according to a White House official.
The man entered the backstage area during or just after Obama’s speech at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center as members of Congress gathered there to have their pictures taken with the president, said the official, who asked for anonymity to discuss the incident, which has not previously been made public.
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The unidentified man said he was Representative Donald Payne Jr., a Democrat from New Jersey, the official said. One member of the White House staff determined that the man wasn't Payne, and another asked him to leave, the official said. He did so without incident and wasn't detained.
"This guy went through security, fully screened," he said.
Neither the White House official, nor another administration official aware of the incident, could say how close the man got to the president or First Lady Michelle Obama, who was also in the vicinity. Payne’s chief of staff, LaVerne Alexander, said yesterday that she had not been informed of the incident.
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Perhaps the Secret Service needs a new strategy...
