White House fence jumper may have gone undetected for 15 minutes

close

Video

White House security breached again by fence jumper

Wendell Goler reports from Washington, D.C.

The alleged fence jumper who breached the White House grounds last Friday night may have been on the property for 15 minutes before being detected by the Secret Service, Fox News has learned.

The Secret Service says Jonathan Tran, who had two cans of mace on him, came in “close proximity” to the White House and may have even “jiggled the door” to the executive mansion.

Tran was charged with entering a restricted building and carrying a dangerous weapon.

President Trump, who was on the property, has praised the Secret Service for doing a “fantastic job” and said the suspect was “troubled.”

But House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, blasted the latest incident and said “this keeps happening.” Chaffetz’s panel oversees the Secret Service.

He added, “Our information is incomplete at best.”

In a letter to acting Secret Service Director Bill Callahan, Chaffetz said Tran “may have attempted entry into the building. If true, these allegations raise questions about whether the agency’s security protocols are adequate.”

Chaffetz suggests there may have been alarms that were ignored by the Secret Service.

Chaffetz wants a briefing by the end of next week. He also is asking for all video from the White House grounds that night as well as logs from the Joint Operations Center and information about “alarms” at the White House.

This hearkens back to what happened in September 2014, when Omar Gonzales penetrated the White House and actually made it inside. Then-Secret Service Director Julia Pierson afterward conceded “mistakes were made.” But the Secret Service was found to have publicly lied about how far Gonzales made it into the White House.

It cost Pierson her job.

They later found the White House alarms had been muted in the Gonzales incident.