A private contractor accused of attempted murder who was arrested when he showed up for work at the White House Tuesday has the highest possible security clearance.
Martese Maurice Edwards, 30, of Suitland, Maryland, has worked for the Department of Defense for 17 years and is a special assistant assigned to the Office of the President.
Edwards is accused of shooting his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend last month as he sat in the passenger seat of a car in the 4200 block of Suitland Road May 3, police said.
In court Friday, Edwards' attorney said there is no real evidence connecting his client to the case and the two witnesses and victim named in the police report are not cooperating with the investigation.
The judge released Edwards on $85,000 bond.
"Because of the nature of the charges and what's alleged to have happened, we certainly feel it would have been better to leave the defendant on a no bond status," said John Erzen of the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office.
"This is not my son," Edwards' mother said. "He is a good person."
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Prince George’s County police issued a warrant for Edwards’ arrest May 17, according to the Prince George's County Sheriff's Office. The U.S. Marshals task force launched a search for Edwards the next day.
The Secret Service said it was not contacted by any law enforcement agency about Edwards in May.
"It is understood that the Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Office (PGCSO) entered limited information pertaining to the active arrest warrant for Edwards into a national database on May 17, 2018," a Secret Service statement said.
When "identifiable" information was added to the database by the Prince George's County Sheriff's Office on June 4, the Secret Service received an alert from the Criminal Justice Information System that Edwards was the subject of an active warrant, the statement said. The agency did not say what identifiable information was added.
