Secret Service Problems

An armed man who jumped the White House fence this month made it far deeper into the mansion than previously disclosed, overpowering a Secret Service agent inside the North Portico entrance and running through the ceremonial East Room before he was tackled, according to a member of Congress familiar with the details of the incident. The man, Omar J. Gonzalez, who had a knife, was stopped as he tried to enter the Green Room, a parlor used for receptions and teas, according to the Republican chairman of a subcommittee looking into the security breach. Earlier, Secret Service officials indicated that Mr. Gonzalez, 42, had only made it steps inside the North Portico after running through the door. The new development, first reported by The Washington Post, raised immediate questions about whether the Secret Service had been forthright in its initial accounts of the episode. It will set the stage for an explosive congressional hearing on Tuesday when lawmakers say they intend to grill Julia Pierson, the director of the Secret Service, about whether an undisciplined culture inside the long- heralded agency has eroded its ability to protect the president and his family. According to a law enforcement official briefed on the current investigation, uniformed Secret Service officers at the White House failed to follow several of the agency’s protocols. It has been unheard of in recent decades for an intruder to force his way into the White House, even if only a few steps inside what is supposed to be one of the most secure buildings in the world.

In Other News Forbes released the 2014 list of the 400 richest Americans, starting with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who is worth more than $81 billion. While the rest of the list included billionaires from a variety of fields, sports owners had a large presence throughout. Walmart has responded to a lawsuit filed by Tracy Morgan over a deadly car crash that left the comedian in critical condition. The big box store blamed the injuries suffered by Morgan on his failure to wear a seat belt. Walmart filed a 28-page response to a complaint by lawyers acting for Morgan and three others. Police said a truck driven by Walmart employee Kevin Roper collided with the rear of the vehicle in which Morgan was riding. Roper pleaded not guilty in June to criminal charges that include vehicular homicide and assault by auto. Morgan's lawsuit said Walmart was careless and negligent in the operation of the vehicle. It said the company should have known Roper had been awake for more than 24 hours at the time of the accident, and cited Walmart for not complying with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Regulations enacted to combat the dangers of driver fatigue.The Walmart truck that rear-ended Morgan's vehicle was traveling 20 mph over the speed limit, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board. The "30 Rock" and former "Saturday Night Live" star was seriously injured in June after the truck slammed into a limo bus occupied by Morgan and four others on the New Jersey Turnpike. The crash killed the star's longtime friend, comedian James McNair, and injured the other passengers. Morgan was hospitalized with broken ribs, a broken nose and a broken leg. In its response, Walmart said the injuries were "caused, in whole or in part, by plaintiffs' failure to properly wear an appropriate available seat belt restraint device." The company said by not using seat belts, the plaintiffs "acted unreasonably and in disregard of plaintiffs' own best interests."