Secret Service Director Julia Pierson Resigns

    (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
    (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    Secret Service Director Julia Pierson has resigned following recent security breaches.

    FOX News Radio’s Jared Halpern reports from the White House:

    Julia Pierson was named by President Obama as the Secret Service’s first female Director just last year, charged with cleaning up what was seen as a culture issue at the agency after a 2012 scandal — Secret Service agents hiring prostitutes in South America.

    (President Obama) “I think a lot of people who have worked with Julia know how dedicated, how professional, how committed she is.”

    Pierson joined the Secret Service in 1983 and was part of protective details for both Presidents Bush and President Clinton.

    But since serving as Director, three agents were sent home from the Netherlands for heavy drinking.

    Then, major security lapses and accusations of misleading the public about them.

    An armed security contractor with a criminal history was able to ride an elevator with the President during a trip to Atlanta. Three days later, an Army veteran charged with scaling the White House fence and sprinting through much of the executive mansion minutes after the President and his daughters had left.

    At the White House, Jared Halpern, FOX News Radio.