An unknown man managed to slip undetected inside the home of White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, according to two people familiar with the incident. The U.S. Secret Service is investigating.
The door was apparently unlocked, and the intruder was able to get inside Sullivan's home around 3 a.m. last month, the people said. Secret Service is investigating whether the person intentionally went into the home or whether it was some kind of accident; the person appeared to be intoxicated, the people said. The people were not authorized to talk about an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Sullivan has round-the-clock security. But the agents stationed outside his home did not know that the unknown male accessed inside the Washington home until the man had already gone. Sullivan came outside and told them, the people said.
Security is always a top concern for high-level government officials, but there's been a more palpable sense of anxiety in recent years as threats to lawmakers and officials are on the rise. The husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was attacked and severely beaten with a hammer by an assailant who broke into the couple’s San Francisco in October.
There was no evidence that the person meant to harm Sullivan or even knew him. The Washington Post first reported the breach.
Meanwhile, additional security measures have been put in place outside Sullivan's home as a precaution while a review is conducted.
The U.S. Secret Service said in a statement that it was “examining a security incident that took place at a protectee site.”
“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," according to the statement.
Any deviation from protocol was unacceptable, the Secret Service said.
Certain members of President Joe Biden's administration get a Secret Service security detail which means their homes are guarded and they receive protection as they move throughout their days outside the White House; it depends on a range of factors including the type of job and whether threats have been made.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
