On March 10, Jonathan T. Tran, 26, jumped three fences to gain access the south entrance of the White House with two cans of mace, a backpack and a letter for the president. He claims that he had originally authored the “Golden Showers” dossier and wanted to alert the president.
“Tran was able to scale that particular area of the fence without setting off alarms because they had been removed, leading to confusion among officers about his whereabouts and whether an intruder was inside the White House complex,” sources told the Washington Examiner.
The alarms were removed when the fence was made taller in response to breaches during the Obama administration. The sensors were never replaced after the fence was raised.
A week prior to Tran scaling the fence, he told a Sputnik News reporter that he believed he was responsible for Christopher Steele’s dossier on Trump after an event held by Roger Stone to promote his new book. Tran claimed that it had been adapted from a dossier that he had written about a roommate, and that he had driven to DC to try to contact someone who could explain this to the president.
Last Monday, a federal judge released Tran on his own recognizance provided that he stay within 100 miles of his home in Milpitas, California, other than for court appearances, and undergo a mental health evaluation. He is scheduled to be fitted with a GPS device on March 16 in California.
Following his release, videos were found on YouTube of Tran explaining his theory.
"I'm currently in Washington DC and I'm just making a video to quickly and publicly come out of hiding. I can't speak too much at the moment about that right now, at this time. But I hope it clears up any confusion or mystery,” Tran says in the footage.
Tran is now charged with entering restricted grounds with a weapon, which carries a fine and up to 10 years in prison.
