The "Sedwicks" Incident

THE WHITE HOUSE

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, District of Columbia 20500

INCIDENT REPORT

TO: Gina Everett, White House Press Secretary

FROM: Chlaire Daniels, Deputy National Security Advisor to the President

Leo Pierce, Chief of Secret Service Presidential Protection Division

SUBJECT: Incident involving First Family 3/10/62 – 3/11/62

DATE: March 12, 2062

This report is in regard to an incident involving David Sedwicks and Zoë Gates-Allen, niece of the President of the United States, on the night of 3/10/62 through 3/11/62.

The Following Facts are known:

Account of Findings By Chlaire Jameson Daniels, Deputy NSA:

At approximately 10:35 PM on March 10, 2062, 19-year old David Sedwicks, assistant to Deputy Chief of Staff Leopold Spencer, left his office in the West Wing of the White House, telling Mr. Spencer’s Special Secretary, Margaret Perino, that he was headed home.

At around 11:00 PM, Mr. Sedwicks began making his way toward the central wing of the White House, His destination, we now know, being the Presidential Residence.

Account of Findings by Leo Pierce, Secret Service PPD Chief:

At between 11:15 and 11:25, according to Anthony Crouch and Richard Hadley, the United States Secret Service Agents on duty at the time, David reached the Residence and gained access via the South Portico.

Mr. Sedwicks avoided detection as, between 11:30 and 11:55, he made his way up a secondary, unguarded staircase at the left end of the Residence, to the third floor.

Account of C.J. Daniels:

Once on the third floor, in the Central Hall, Sedwicks approached the Lincoln Bedroom, that of the President’s niece.

David took the circuitous route to the Lincoln Bedroom through the Yellow Room and the Treaty Room, where he disturbed some chairs, and bumped his belt against the wall of the stair landing.

Ms. Gates-Allen, who was in bed but still awake at the time, around 12:00 AM on March 11, by her own account, heard the commotion next door, and then became aware of footsteps on the hardwood and tile floor of the East Sitting Hall. Remaining otherwise perfectly still, so as not to make a sound and awake the stranger to her presence, she sat up in bed and reach out across to her desk and grabbed her Secret Service panic button.

Account of Leo Pierce:

The nearest Secret Service agents, Special Agents Kimberly Frost and Ellis Fox, breaking in the Map Room on the second floor, responded immediately. Mr. Sedwicks had reached the Lincoln Bedroom and had his hand on the doorknob when agents Fox and Frost entered the hall.

Mr. Sedwicks froze, but neglected to respond to their calls for him to take his hands off the doorknob and step away from the door.

According to Ms. Frost’s account, the two agents closed in slowly, in case Sedwicks was armed, and cornered the young man.

According to Ms. Fox’s account of the events that followed, pursuant to protocol, with in thirty seconds, they had grabbed Mr. Sedwicks and had him up against the wall beside the door, his arms pulled behind his back, as agent Fox checked him thoroughly for weapons. Finding none, and as agent Frost instructed Zoë to remain in her room, the two agents led the young man downstairs and out of the residence.

Once Mr. Sedwicks was safely secured in the Secret Service bullpen in the downstairs of the West Wing, at around 12:30 AM, the President’s personal aide, Alex Hill, roused President Katherine Janney, who was escorted by the Secret service to the Oval Office. I immediately apprised her of the situation, assuring her that her niece was fine and perfectly safe, and Ms. Daniels advised her on several variable pursuant courses of action. President Janney then requested that the rest of the White House Senior Staff be called in, and consulted with her Chief of Staff, Kenneth Welsh. The time was now about 12:52 AM.      

            President Janney then went to the residence to make sure Zoë was okay. She needed to explain little. Zoë adeptly grasped the fundamentals of the situation. The two watched television until Zoë was ready to go back to bed, where she fell immediately asleep.

After all the Senior Staff including White House Communications Director Kristin Ludlowe, National Security Advisor Jason Hunter, and Leo Spencer, were gathered in the West Wing, around 2:05 AM President Janney requested that Mr. Sedwicks be brought into the Oval Office. C.J. Daniels and I, along with Special Agent Frost, were present in the Oval for the ensuing ‘discussion’; while the rest of the Senior Staff waited outside; during which the President heartily reprimanded the young man, in harsh terms, with strong language, and in increasingly voluminous tones.

            After almost an hour, at 3:00 AM, the President allowed the District of Columbia Police to take Mr. Sedwicks away in handcuffs.

Notes and Findings:

Findings by C.J. Daniels:

• It is not yet known how David Sedwicks gained access to the Presidential Residence. He may have had an authorization to assist with Presidential paperwork or to advise one of the President’s assistants. As might be expected, Leo Spencer has verified to me that no such authorization was given.

Note by Leo Pierce:

• During our interrogation, David held to his story, being that he was, in fact, in love with Zoë, and that he firmly and strongly believed that Ms. Gates-Allen reciprocated, holding those same feeling toward him.

Notes and Findings of Special Agent Kimberly Frost of the U.S. Secret Service PPD:

• As PPD Chief Leo Pierce will verify, since early September of last year, 2061, we at the United States Secret Service have been receiving unusual packages, addressed to Ms. Zoë Gates-Allen and encompassing items ranging from handwritten greeting cards and manifestos; to corsages and expensive clothes, to expensive jewelry and dresses, and even money, all with roses and other flowers, and all accompanied by cards containing handwritten romantic poems.

• The cards and manifestos were stored away for possible use as evidence, and the gifts were handed over, per request, and after being thoroughly checked for potentially harmful or elicit materials, to President Janney, who has found more discreet ways to pass them on to her niece: giving her the clothes when Zoë needed new ones; the jewelry as birthday and special occasions presents; the flowers for use on the family dining room table or in the vases in Zoë’s room, the Lincoln Bedroom; and the dresses and corsages she saved for the upcoming Washington-Lee High School Junior Prom.

• Unfortunately for our investigation, all the packages were return-addressed from Washington-Lee, Georgetown, the Senate Office Building, and other diverse and variable D.C. locations. Criminology experts have verified that all the greetings and poems share a similar writing style, sentence structure, and format, and display nearly identical handwriting, indicating that it is on a very high order of probability that their source was the same person; and, although the results of the administered handwriting tests are still pending, the chief suspect is Mr. David Sedwicks.

Annotation by C.J. Daniels:

• Also, because none of the messages contained any threatening language, and because there were never any verbal or physical threats made by Mr. Sedwicks against Zoë Gates-Allen, and also because David is the son of an influential Conservative Senator, Senate Minority Leader and former Conservative Vice-Presidential candidate and nominee, Nathan Sedwicks, it seems likely at this time that the Federal judge hearing the case against David Sedwicks will order for an immediate dismissal of the charges. Much to the extreme displeasure of the President, a full and expedient acquittal is expected.

Recommendations:

ü  David was merely an assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff, Leo Spencer, yet somehow managed to gain access to the Residence. For this reason, the President has requested that a directive be added to the Executive Regulations manual, stating that only White House Senior Staff and advisors, assistants, and aides to the President are to be allowed into the Residence from the West Wing.

Ø  Secret Service PPD Duty Officers: Ted Manning, Paul Hawthorne, Simon Keeley, Richard Hadley, Troy Ward, Ted Porter, Anthony Crouch, Bill Carradine, and Al Toscano have been informed of the change in regulations, effective immediately.

ü  Sedwicks gained access to the third floor via the unsecured West staircase. Effective immediately, all entrances, exits, stairs, and elevators in the White House are to be posted with Secret Service agents and security devices.

ü  Also effective immediately: David Sedwicks approached to within four meters of Zoë’s bed. Therefore, by Presidential Directive Order, the door to the Lincoln Bedroom is to be guarded at all times that Ms. Gates-Allen is either at home and/or sleeping.

Ø  The agents from the ‘First Daughter’s Secret Service detail that are to be posted on duty include Troy Ward and Al Toscano.

Ø  However, the directive primarily applies to Special Agents Kimberly Frost and Ellis Fox, who are by this order designated as Zoë Gates-Allen’s official personal bodyguards, one or both of whom are to accompany the girl at all times, by the will of President Katherine Janney, and under her direction. Henceforward, the two Special Agents will not only answer solely to PPD Chief Leo Pierce, and myself but will answer directly to President Janney. 

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