WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson resigned under fire on Wednesday after a series of security lapses came to light that exposed gaping holes in the protective cocoon around President Barack Obama.
Pierson, in her position for just 18 months, faced mounting calls from lawmakers to step down in the fallout from a Sept. 19 incident in which an Iraq war veteran with a knife scaled the White House fence, sprinted across the lawn and got deep inside the mansion before an off-duty agent stopped him.