In a statement issued by the Head of Homeland Security, Jeh
Johnson, Ms. Pierson was saluted for her service to the country while a
replacement was named.
The statement reads “today Julia Pierson, the Director of
the United States Secret Service, offered her resignation, and I accepted it. I
salute her 30 years of distinguished service to the Secret Service and the
Nation.
As an interim Acting Director of the Secret Service, I am
appointing Joseph Clancy, formerly Special Agent in Charge of the Presidential
Protective Division of the Secret Service. Mr. Clancy retired from the Secret
Service in 2011. I appreciate his willingness to leave his position in the
private sector on very short notice and return to public service for a period.
Today, I have also asked the Deputy Secretary of Homeland
Security Alejandro Mayorkas, aided by this Department’s General Counsel, to
assume control and direction of the ongoing inquiry by the Secret Service of
the fence jumping incident at the White House on September 19. Deputy
Secretary Mayorkas should complete that review and submit findings to me by
November 1, 2014.
Finally, I have also determined that scrutiny by a
distinguished panel of independent experts of the September 19 incident and
related issues concerning the Secret Service is warranted. The Panelists will
be named shortly. By December 15, 2014, this panel will submit to me its own
assessment and recommendations concerning security of the White House compound.
I will also invite the panel to submit to me recommendations for potential new
directors of the Secret Service, to include recommendations of individuals who
come from outside the Secret Service. I will also request that the panel advise
me about whether it believes, given the series of recent events, there should
be a review of broader issues concerning the Secret Service. The security of
the White House compound should be the panel’s primary and immediate priority.
It is worth repeating that the Secret Service is one of the
finest official protection services in the world, consisting of men and women
who are highly trained and skilled professionals prepared to put their own lives
on the line in a second’s notice for the people they protect. Last week, the
Secret Service was responsible for the protection of the President as well as
140 visiting heads of state or government as they convened at the United
Nations General Assembly in New York City. Likewise, in August the Secret
Service handled the protection of 60 world leaders as they convened in
Washington, D.C. for the African Summit. As usual, the Secret Service executed
these highly complex and demanding assignments without incident. There is no
other protection service in the world that could have done this”.
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