White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday that the administration only learned yesterday of an incident in which President Obama was greeted in an elevator by an armed man with a criminal background.
The incident occurred in Atlanta, where the president was meeting with officials about the current Ebola crisis. Obama was greeted by a man with a gun in a closed elevator just days before Omar Gonzalez stormed the White House front door on Sept. 19.
During the daily press briefing, Earnest said, "I can tell you what the White House first learned of the incident yesterday afternoon shortly before it was reported by news organizations."
We can now add this incident to the list of Obama administration scandals that the White House learned from the news.
CNN White House Correspondent Jim Acosta asked, "You didn't know about it until yesterday. That's a problem, right?"
Earnest said the elevator incident was indeed a breach of security. He acknowledged the failure in subsequent communication between security agencies.
Ideally, "there would be an open channel of communication between the United States Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security and ultimately the White House."
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson offered her resignation on Wednesday following the increase in "unacceptable" security breaches.