By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Omar J. Gonzalez was armed with a knife when he managed to make it much deeper into the White House mansion than previously disclosed, the New York Times reports.
The 42-year-old made it to the ceremonial East Room after overpowering a Secret Service agent inside the North Portico entrance.
Gonzalez finally stopped after trying to enter the Green Room, said Rep. John Chaffetz, R-Utah.
The New York Times writes that the discovery “will set the stage for an explosive congressional hearing on Tuesday when lawmakers” plan to question Secret Service Director Julia Pierson.
The focus of the hearing is a series of security blunders over the past several years.
One law enforcement official told the New York Times that Secret Service officers failed to follow several protocols that made it possible for Gonzalez to nearly reach the Green Room.
