Senior Secret Service Agents Investigated after their Car Hits White House; Cover-up Suspected

The Obama administration is investigating allegations that two senior Secret Service agents, including a top member of the president’s protective detail, drove a government car into White House security barricades after drinking at a late-night party last week, an agency official said Wednesday.

Officers on duty who witnessed the March 4 incident wanted to arrest the agents and conduct sobriety tests, according to a current and a former government official familiar with the incident. But the officers were ordered by a supervisor on duty that night to let the agents go home, said these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive internal matter.

The episode presents an early test for the Secret Service’s new director, Joseph P. Clancy, who was appointed by Obama last month after a string of security lapses at the White House and other embarrassing missteps and had vowed to restore the agency’s once-stellar reputation.

Clancy on Monday directed that the inquiry be led by the Department of Homeland Security inspector general, in part because the incident involves such senior officials, a law enforcement official said.

Agency spokesman Brian Leary confirmed the investigation after questions from The Washington Post, saying the Secret Service was “aware of the allegations of misconduct involving two of our employees.” He declined to specify which allegations are the focus of the inquiry. (Read more from “Senior Secret Service Agents Investigated after Car Hits White House” HERE)

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