WSJ: For Julia Pierson, No Face-to-Face Meeting With Obama
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson was fired so fast she didn’t even get a face-to-face meeting with the president.
Ms. Pierson, already under fire due to cascading scandals at the agency tasked with protecting the president, sealed her fate with a disastrous performance before the House Oversight Committee Tuesday. By mid-afternoon, when Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) called for her resignation, the show was already over.
The 30-year Secret Service veteran left the Obama administration in record time for someone appointed by the president. The only other key officials fired in the midst of a public storm were Gen.Stanley McChrystal, whom President Barack Obama inherited upon becoming president, and former Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, who lingered for weeks amid growing concerns about VA facilities.
But unlike those two, who each got an Oval Office meeting upon their departures from the government, Ms. Pierson spoke with Mr. Obama by phone, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday. That conversation took place after she’d already submitted her resignation to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
Mr. Obama “took time out of his day” to call Ms. Pierson, Mr. Earnest said. Unlike Mr. Shinseki’s departure, there was no sign the president regretted her resignation. “The president is deeply appreciative of her service,” Mr. Earnest said.
In 2010, Mr. McChrystal, who headed international forces in Afghanistan, was dismissedwithin 40 hours of the president reading a Rolling Stone article in which the general mocked Vice President Joe Biden and other top administration officials.
By Reid J. Epstein, Oct. 1, 2014, WJS.com
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson was fired so fast she didn’t even get a face-to-face meeting with the president.
Ms. Pierson, already under fire due to cascading scandals at the agency tasked with protecting the president, sealed her fate with a disastrous performance before the House Oversight Committee Tuesday. By mid-afternoon, when Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) called for her resignation, the show was already over.
The 30-year Secret Service veteran left the Obama administration in record time for someone appointed by the president. The only other key officials fired in the midst of a public storm were Gen.Stanley McChrystal, whom President Barack Obama inherited upon becoming president, and former Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, who lingered for weeks amid growing concerns about VA facilities.
But unlike those two, who each got an Oval Office meeting upon their departures from the government, Ms. Pierson spoke with Mr. Obama by phone, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday. That conversation took place after she’d already submitted her resignation to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
Mr. Obama “took time out of his day” to call Ms. Pierson, Mr. Earnest said. Unlike Mr. Shinseki’s departure, there was no sign the president regretted her resignation. “The president is deeply appreciative of her service,” Mr. Earnest said.
In 2010, Mr. McChrystal, who headed international forces in Afghanistan, was dismissedwithin 40 hours of the president reading a Rolling Stone article in which the general mocked Vice President Joe Biden and other top administration officials.
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