Congressman Stephen Lynch was not backing down Tuesday from stern comments he made during a hearing on security lapses by the Secret Service earlier in the day in Washington.
"We've certainly witnessed a diminishment in what we all agree was a stellar record of performance since the Secret Service inception," said Lynch. "This is absolutely disgraceful that this has happened."
Lynch explained back home in Boston that he was concerned that the Secret Service not only allowed an armed intruder into the White House on Sept. 19, but didn't elaborate until now on just how far the intruder made it into the White House before he was stopped.
"You've got to run the whole length of the East Room, that's the largest single room in the White House, to get to the Green Room so he had basically done half of a tour of the White House," said Lynch, "They said he was caught inside the portico doors, no that's not correct."
Relatively new Secret Service Director Julia Pierson was on the defensive throughout the hearing, but admitted there was a security procedure in place, it just wasn't followed.
"It's clear that our security plan was not properly executed, this is unacceptable and I take full responsibility and I will make sure that it does not happen again," said Pierson.
Lynch said it bothered him that Pierson seemed more focused on protecting her reputation than the White House.
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"I know that the new director Ms. Pierson was supposed to come in and change the culture there because of the multiple lapses we've had, but it actually seems like it's gotten worse rather than better," he said.
But Lynch stopped short of calling for Pierson's resignation.
"That's going to be a discussion that I think the president needs to have," said Lynch.
The congressman said he didn't think the ongoing internal investigation by the Secret Service was enough. He said both Republicans and Democrats in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are pushing for an independent investigation to look at the whole process of White House security.
