The Secret Service is investigating how an apparently intoxicated man was able to enter the home of White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan last month without alerting his round-the-clock security detail, according to The Washington Post, citing three unnamed government officials.
The man entered Mr Sullivan’s Washington home around 3am in April.
The Biden official confronted the individual and told him to leave, then went outside to alert the Secret Service agents who protect him, according to the Post.
“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,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the paper. “Any deviation from our protective protocols is unacceptable and if discovered, personnel will be held accountable.”
The officials familiar with the break-in said there was no evidence the man knew Mr Sullivan or intended to hurt him.
Last year, a man was arrested for threatening US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh outside of his home.
The Secret Service, which is in charge of protecting top US officials, has come under scrutiny in recent months for its handling of messages related to the 2020 election.
Last month, Ken Klippenstein, a reporter for The Intercept, sued to compel the National Archives to seek assistance from the Justice Department to recover text messages from the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security that were apparently lost in the final days of the 2020 election and the chaos surrounding January 6.
Last summer, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari told lawmakers the Secret Service deleted text messages from January 6, which the agency blamed on a data migration process.
Text messages from the acting head of DHS at the time, Chad Wolf, and a top deputy, also disappeared, which the agency said was the result of a reset of electronic systems at the beginning of the Biden administration.
The Secret Service also recently made headlines in April when it apprehended a toddler who breached White House security by crawling through a gap in the fence.
