It was recently revealed that an unknown intruder broke into the Washington D.C. home of one of President Joe Biden's top aides, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, according to the Daily Wire.
The incident reportedly occurred on some unspecified date in late April and the U.S. Secret Service, which provides protection for Sullivan at all times, is scrambling to figure out how the intruder managed to evade detection.
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday about the incident at Sullivan's home that involved an unknown man entering the residence around 3 am and then leaving after being confronted by Sullivan and told to exit the home, according to three unnamed government sources.
There were no signs of forced entry and the man appeared to be confused with regard to his whereabouts and intoxicated. It was also noted that neither Sullivan nor the intruder knew each other, nor that the intruder intended to cause any harm to the presidential adviser.
It was further revealed by the sources that the Secret Service agents assigned to guard Sullivan's home were completely unaware of the intruder until after that individual had already left and Sullivan came outside to inform them of what had just occurred.
The Post further reported that the Secret Service has acknowledged that this particular undetected breach is of "significant concern" and has launched an investigation to determine exactly what happened and how.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the newspaper, "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."
"Any deviation from our protective protocols is unacceptable and if discovered, personnel will be held accountable," he added.
Guglielmi also noted that additional agents have been deployed to Sullivan's protective detail for the time being, at least while the current investigation of the incident remains pending.
It was also reported by The Post that National Security Advisers previously only received Secret Service protection while traveling, but that all changed in 2021 following the discovery of an Iranian plot to assassinate former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton, likely in response to his aggressive stance against the nuclear-ambitious Islamic regime.
The White House had no comment on the incident, but the outlet noted that, understandably, it had "sparked alarm" among the president's aides and staffers and Sullivan's colleagues.
Indeed, Post reporter Carol Leonnig, in discussing the story she wrote about the Sullivan intrusion during an appearance on MSNBC, said, "The real big alarm bell here is that the Secret Service was not aware that a person basically walked right into his house in the middle of the night."
She went on to reference the Iranian plot against Bolton, which led to criminal charges against a top Iranian official, and how that had led to "round-the-clock" protection for Sullivan going forward.
"We would hope, as Americans, protecting him would be a little tighter than somebody being able to get into his home in the middle of the night," Leonnig added.
