WASHINGTON 鈥� The alarm system at the house of former President George H.W. Bush stopped working in September 2013 and wasn鈥檛 fixed for more than a year, a new report says.
The report, which was compiled by the office of Homeland Security Department Inspector General Inspector General John Roth, will be released Thursday, 聽reports. It says that no breaches of security happened at the former president鈥檚 Houston house, but the timeline of the problems with the system, and with fixing it, sheds more light on dysfunction in the Secret Service, which is responsible for the security of former chief executives.
The former president’s main house is in Kennebunkport, Maine.
During the time the alarm was known to be out, a Secret Service employee was assigned to a 鈥渞oving post to secure the residence,” but since it can鈥檛 be known precisely when the alarm failed, it鈥檚 possible Bush was left with no security at all.
The report says that a Secret Service employee determined the alarm system at Bush鈥檚 house 鈥渉ad exceeded its life cycle鈥� and recommended it be replaced, but the request was denied. 鈥淟imited upgrades鈥� were done in 2012, CBS reports.
The Secret Service bought a new system in January 2014 but it wasn鈥檛 installed until December 2014, CBS 太子探花 says, citing the report.
“George and Barbara Bush have total confidence in the men and women of the Secret Service. Their trust in them is as unshakable as it is unbreakable,”聽Bush spokesman Jim McGrath told CBS 太子探花.
The report says that security equipment at one other former president鈥檚 house is showing 鈥渟igns of impending failure,鈥� CBS 太子探花 says. The former president鈥檚 name was redacted.
The Secret Service told Roth that such a review was completed in January and a security system replacement plan has been included in the agency鈥檚 Resource Allocation Plan for the 2017 budget year.
The report is just the latest in a string of security missteps and scandals for the agency responsible for protecting the president and former presidents.
In September, a man armed with a knife was able to climb over a White House fence and run deep into the executive mansion before being apprehended. Lawmakers have been critical of the agency, including newly installed Director Joseph Clancy.
In a statement Thursday morning, the top Republican and Democrat on the House Oversight Committee renewed that criticism.
鈥淭his adds to the growing list of significant concerns Congress has had with the management of the Secret Service,鈥� said Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, and Maryland Democrat Elijah Cummings. 鈥淚t is imperative that Director Clancy act swiftly on a host of fronts to restore the American people鈥檚 confidence in this agency.鈥�
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
