In Wake Of Lapses, Top Secret Service Officials Are Told To Leave

There's a management shakeup at the Secret Service in the wake of several security lapses: The Washington Post is reporting that four of the Secret Service's senior-most officials have been removed and a fifth is retiring.

Assistant Directors Dale Pupillo, Paul Morrissey, Jane Murphy and Mark Copanzzi have been told to leave; while Assistant Director Vic Erevia is retiring this year. Acting Director Joseph Clancy informed the four officials that they must leave their positions overseeing protection, investigations, public affairs and technology, respectively, within 30 days.

If they don't, they can report for a new assignment at the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, the Post reported, citing "people familiar with the discussions."

The Post adds: "The departures would gut much of the Secret Service's upper management, which has been criticized by lawmakers and administration officials in recent months for fostering a culture of distrust between agency leaders and its rank-and-file, and for making poor decisions that helped erode quality."

The Secret Service was criticized last year after several lapses, including one in which a knife-wielding man scaled the White House fence and made it inside the executive mansion's main level. The scandal resulted in the resignation of its then-director, Julia Pierson.

In December, a panel appointed by the Department of Homeland Security recommended changes at the Secret Service, saying it was "starved for leadership."