New details emerge about White House contractor arrested for attempted murder
WASHINGTON -- The contractor who was arrested Tuesday as he reported for work at the White House had been wanted for weeks for attempted murder. Now there are questions about how he was able to elude authorities and get that close to the White House.
Martese Edwards appeared in a Washington, D.C., courtroom Wednesday and did not fight extradition to Maryland on a charge of attempted murder.
The Secret Service didn't provide much information about Edwards. He's charged with shooting the boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend on May 3 in Prince George's County, Maryland, some 9 miles from the White House. Two weeks later, on May 17, police entered an arrest warrant into a national crime information database, launching a search.
That database is available to all law enforcement agencies, but the Secret Service says it didn't become aware of the warrant until June 4. Maryland officials say the warrant was updated that day with new information.
"As to why it was not seen by the Secret Service until June 4, that is a question that they would have to answer," said John Erzen, a spokesman for the Prince George's County state's attorney office. "That is not anything I would have knowledge of."
The White House has not clarified how long Edwards worked there or -- what his job was.
Pentagon officials say that Edwards applied in 2012 to be a police officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), but did not complete training. In 2015, Edwards did logistics support at the DIA but hasn't worked there since.
The Edwards case has raised new questions about White House security clearance procedures. Earlier this year Rob Porter, who was a top aide to President Trump, was forced to resign months after the White House had been informed that Porter had been accused of domestic violence.
