WH's Gibbs Blames Secret Service For Dinner Crashers

Was that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs throwing the Secret Service under the bus on Wednesday for the state-dinner crashers affair?

Gibbs says no, that's not what he was up to. But he deflected every question when reporters repeatedly asked if the Social Secretary's office might have some culpability for two uninvited people basically walking into the White House and getting to do a grip and grin with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other dignitaries. The questioning was along the lines of the post I wrote earlier today.

Gibbs was adamant that the Secret Service could have just picked up the phone and called the Social Secretary's office if they had any questions sounding like a man who was trying to exonerate the White House staff. (Note the italicized sarcasm in his answer):

REPORTER: At previous dinners, there was somebody from the White House staff there checking names. So if they had been there and these people were not on the list, they might have caught that.

MR. GIBBS: But again, Ed, I assume in the absence of somebody being there, because they're working telephones in the White House, somebody would have checked. That again, I think the focus of the investigation at this point is on the fact that that name wasn't on a list, that name wasn't waved in, but that that couple got into the White House. And I think that's what the Secret Service is rightly focused on in their security investigation.

 

ANOTHER REPORTER: So are you saying — are you saying that the Social Office does not have any responsibility in this at all?

MR. GIBBS: April, there is an investigation that's ongoing into the actions of what happened, and I'm going to wait for that to be completed.

REPORTER: Robert, the reason why we are questioning the Social Office and the Secret Service, because in the past both worked in conjunction and successfully were able to protect the president of the United States without anyone coming in. And now, because the Social Office did not have that other layer of checks and balances there this happened.

MR. GIBBS: Again, April — but again, April —

REPORTER: And people are questioning why —

MR. GIBBS: But again, April, it's —

REPORTER: — This White House is not putting the onus some on the Social Office as well?

MR. GIBBS: I'm going to let the investigation put the onus on where the onus should be. But what I'm simply doing is explaining to you a series of facts that include the notion that if somebody was confused about whether or not somebody was on a list at a guard tower on the exterior perimeter of the White House, and there was a question, generally somebody could pick up the phone and ask. I'm saying that — I'm saying that the Secret Service, in the statement that they released a few days ago, acknowledged that that didn't
happen and that that was a mistake.

THIRD REPORTER: Are you concerned — or is the White House going to do what's necessary to make sure the Secret Service is not scapegoated here and that there could be responsibility for this at the White House?

MR. GIBBS: Of course. That's why there's an investigation, Chip. Chuck.

REPORTER: But you seem to be steering the blame towards the Secret Service.

MR. GIBBS: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Understand, I'm simply reiterating, for the three questions that I got on the same subject, what the U.S. Secret Service put out on this last week.

Chip, I have walked with and been next to the Secret Service for the two-and-a-half years, virtually every single day, that the president has had the valuable and brave protection of the United States Secret Service. Nobody — nobody — is more thankful for that than the president, as well as the country. The president has faith in the Secret Service, always has, and that's not about to change.