It is imperative President Donald Trump make strong changes in his Secret Service detail following last month's breach of security in which an intruder entered White House grounds, veteran investigative reporter Ronald Kessler told Newsmax TV.
"I have certainly talked to him about it," Kessler, author of "The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of the Presidents," published by Crown Forum, told Monday's "The Steve Malzberg Show."
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Jonathan Tran, 26, bypassed fences and gates and eluded security for 16 minutes March 10 while Trump was in the White House.
"In my book . . . I said that President [Barack] Obama appointed Joe Clancy as the new Secret Service director [which] guarantees more security breaches. Of course it has happened over and over since then because Clancy changed absolutely nothing within the Secret Service," Kessler said.
"He was a veteran agent, part of the same cover-up culture and lax culture [in the Secret Service]. A four-person panel appointed by Obama's own Homeland Security chief, Jeh Johnson, recommended that Obama choose someone from outside the agency who [would] shake it up.
"They actually consulted with me for an hour and a half, and I suggested a former FBI official. That's the only way to change this culture and shake it up. [But] nothing has happened . . . A lot of people just don't understand the risk."
After the breach, CNN reported half a dozen Secret Service members — both uniformed officers and special agents — were expected to endure disciplinary action.
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