WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service on Tuesday said it is investigating how an intruder was able to get inside the home of White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in the middle of the night a few weeks ago.
A spokesman for the agency said they’re looking into “a security incident that took place at a protectee site.”
“While the protectee was unharmed, we are taking this matter seriously and have opened a comprehensive mission assurance investigation to review all facets of what occurred,” said Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi in a statement.
“Any deviation from our protective protocols is unacceptable and if discovered, personnel will be held accountable. Modifications to the protective posture have also been made to ensure additional security layers are in place as we conduct this comprehensive review,” he added.
Guglielmi did not say what happened to the intruder. The White House declined to comment to NBC News.
The Washington Post, which first reported the intrusion, cited three government officials who said the incident occurred around 3 a.m. ET one night in late April, and the intruder was not detected by Secret Service agents guarding Sullivan’s home in Washington, D.C.
Sullivan confronted the person and told him to leave, the Post reported, citing two of the people briefed on what happened.
Sullivan, 46, has worked as Biden’s national security adviser since the beginning of his presidency, and served from 2013 to 2014 as Biden’s national security adviser when he was vice president. Sullivan held other roles in the Obama administration and also served as chief foreign policy adviser to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign.
The intrusion into Sullivan’s home comes as elected officials and other public figures have faced increased threats in recent years.
On Monday, a 49-year-old Virginia man with a metal baseball bat entered the district office of Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and allegedly attacked two members of the congressman’s staff.
In October, a man with a hammer attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at their home in San Francisco. The man who was charged in the attack allegedly said he was looking for the House speaker at the time. The defendant in the case has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
