Tareq and Michaele Salahi may be the most famous gatecrashers in the world after they tricked their way into a state dinner presided over by President Obama last month. But they are by no means the first people to elude the Secret Service and breach White House security.
A secret report compiled by the Secret Service reveals security surrounding the US President has been breached at least 91 times since 1980, according to the Washington Post newspaper.
A summary of the report, compiled in 2003, along with descriptions to the newspaper of more recent breaches by federal homeland security officials, details scores of breaches. They include a family who were wrongly allowed into White House grounds in a minivan, a woman allowed into the ground despite already having falsely claimed a “special relationship” with former president Bill Clinton and a celebrity hunter who joined Harrison Ford’s entourage to get near Mr Clinton.
The document, which is the most complete accounting of recent Secret Service security breakdowns, states that they expose significant gaps that could be exploited by would-be assassins and erode “one of the best tools for deterring future attempts” — the general belief that the White House is invulnerable.
A Secret Service official confirmed the authenticity of the unclassified document to the newspaper adding that it had been used to train agents and officers in an effort to improve agency operations.
The official, Edwin Donovan, said: “This document reflects a proactive attempt to evaluate our security and obviously raises the awareness of uniformed division officers and agents about their jobs.
“We have to be concerned about the threats to our protectees at all times, whether at the White House or away from the White House.”
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