Two tourists allegedly avoided the Secret Service, snuck onto White House grounds in 2008

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

PR-wise, the Secret Service is not having a good time of it.

Less than a month ago, a man managed to scale a fence outside the White House, race across the lawn, and breach the entrance itself before being tackled by security. A week later, a man pretending to be a member of Congress successfully reached the backstage area of an event at which President Barack Obama was speaking.

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Sources claim that in the summer of 2008, a pair of German tourists entered the White House grounds after peeling off from a legitimate tour group, only being noticed and then apprehended when they began using unauthorized cameras to take pictures near the White House's North Portico. Uniformed Division inspectors who allegedly investigated the incident said the breach occurred because two Secret Service officers charged with guarding the departure gate that the tourists doubled back through were talking and distracted. Agents allegedly claim long hours and surprise shifts result in fatigue, which they say is partly responsible for the security breaches.

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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

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