WASHINGTON — Three Secret Service officers have been put on administrative leave after the security breach at last week’s White House dinner, an episode President Barack Obama said hasn’t shaken his confidence in his protectors.
The president nevertheless acknowledged Thursday “the system didn’t work the way it was supposed to.”
Despite the screw-up, the president was never at risk, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told Congress on Thursday.
“Pure and simple, this was human error” in which normal security protocols were not followed, Sullivan testified.
So far, the service’s continuing investigation has found three people from the agency’s uniformed officer division responsible for the security breach and all three have been taken off duty until a review of the matter is completed, he added.
For all the uproar, Obama said he still feels safe in the mansion and trusts the Secret Service to protect him and his family.
“I could not have more confidence in the Secret Service,” Obama told USA Today and the Detroit Free Press.
Some House lawmakers, however, weren’t as assured. The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, said, “We’re all fortunate that this diplomatic celebration did not become a night of horror.”
The couple — Tareq and Michaele Salahi — and White House social secretary Desiree Rogers were also invited to testify Thursday, but all three declined. Committee staffers are drafting subpoenas to compel the two aspiring reality-TV stars to testify.
The committee’s top Republican, New York’s Peter King, said it’s critical that the White House allow Rogers to testify as well. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs cited the separation of powers and a history of White House staff not testifying before Congress in explaining why Rogers, herself a guest at the dinner, wouldn’t testify.
On NBC’s “Today” show this week, the Salahis maintained they did nothing wrong. They have been trying to land a part on a Bravo reality show, “The Real Housewives of D.C.,” and were filmed by the TV show around town as they prepared for the White House dinner.
