Secret Service Director Julia Pierson House should be ousted from her job, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday, agreeing with the recommendation of the top Democrat on the oversight committee.
Mrs. Pelosi, the highest-ranking woman in American politics, said problems go beyond Ms. Pierson, who was put in charge of the Secret Service after a scandal involving agents who hired prostitutes in Cartagena in 2012. But Mrs. Pelosi said she accepts the analysis of Rep Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House oversight committee, who said he was displeased with Ms. Pierson’s leadership.
“I agree with his analysis,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “I am subscribing to his superior judgment and knowledge on the subject. But I’m also saying that this is more than one person, because there were problems before she went there.”
The Secret Service is reeling from a new scandal after an intruder last month jumped the White House fence and made it into the executive mansion before he was apprehended.
Ms. Pierson told Congress on Tuesday that she takes full responsibility for the security failure, and said they are conducting an internal investigation to see what went wrong. Mrs. Pelosi, however, said the agency needs to face a compulsory external investigation that would be able to impose recommendations on the agency, as a way of cleaning up a troubled culture there.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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