OFFICIALS SAY THEY SAW A SPIKE IN THREATS AGAINST OBAMA EARLY IN HIS TERM
It is one of the cases in a spike of threats against Obama before his inauguration and in the early months of his presidency  raising deep concerns inside the Secret Service and at the White House.
 The threats have leveled off in recent months  officials said  and Obama now receives about the same as his two most recent predecessors. But several officials said they took no solace that the volume of reports had receded  because it was the nature of the threats that concern them and because the factors behind the increase remain -- Obama's race prime among them.
 While the story of the Virginia couple who crashed a state dinner last month has drawn much attention to the security around Obama  it is threats from far beyond the White House gates that have most turned up the pressure on the Secret Service.
 The Secret Service has expanded its Internet Threat Desk  where online threats are monitored and investigated. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano  whose department oversees the Secret Service  goes to the White House each month to review threats against Obama with the president's chief of staff.
It is one of the cases in a spike of threats against [TGT] before [TGT] inauguration and in the early months of [TGT] presidency  raising deep concerns inside the Secret Service and at the White House.
 The threats have leveled off in recent months  officials said  and [TGT] now receives about the same as [TGT] two most recent predecessors. But several officials said they took no solace that the volume of reports had receded  because it was the nature of the threats that concern them and because the factors behind the increase remain -- [TGT]'s race prime among them.
 While the story of the Virginia couple who crashed a state dinner last month has drawn much attention to the security around [TGT]it is threats from far beyond the White House gates that have most turned up the pressure on the Secret Service.
 The Secret Service has expanded its Internet Threat Desk  where online threats are monitored and investigated. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano  whose department oversees the Secret Service  goes to the White House each month to review threats against [TGT] with the president's chief of staff.