Drunk Secret Service Agents Crashed into White House Barricade
Secret Service Agents 'Crashed into White House Barricade After Drinking at Late-Night Party as They Tried to Drive Through Area Being Investigated for Suspicious Package'
The Homeland Security Department is investigating two senior Secret Service agents accused of crashing a car into a White House security barrier. Mark Connolly, the second-in-command on President Barack Obama's security detail, and George Ogilvie, a senior supervisor in the Washington field office, reportedly drove a government car into the barricades after drinking at a late-night retirement party last week. Secret Service spokesman Robert Hoback said recently appointed Director Joseph Clancy has been briefed on the March 4 incident and that Clancy has asked the Homeland Security Department's Inspector General's Office to investigate the incident. Officers on duty who witnessed the incident reportedly tried to arrest the agents and conduct a sobriety test, but a supervisor said to let the men go home. President Obama is aware of the incident and the investigation. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...6121239311.jpg An investigation has been launched to see if two Secret Service agents, including Mark Connolly (above), the second-in-command on President Obama's security detail, drove their car into a White House barricade http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...6123827963.jpg This after the men had reportedly been drinking at a late-night retirement party for Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan (above) The agency said the two agents have been reassigned to non-supervisory, non-operational jobs. Reports say that the men had been at a bar to celebrate the retirement of departing Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan. Connolly and Ogilvie have declined to comment, though it is believed that the incident was likely caught on Secret Service video, which feeds to the agency's command center. According to witnesses, the two men had their flashing lights on and were showing their badges as they tried to get through a section of the grounds that had been closed as a suspicious package was being investigated at around 10:30pm. It was then that they struck the barricade, after also driving through some security tape. It is illegal to use the flashing lights on a government vehicle without a security reason, or to drive a vehicle after consuming any alcohol. In 2013 a civilian who crashed into a barricade at the White House was chased by police and shot and killed. 'The Secret Service is aware of the allegations of misconduct involving two of our employees at the White House complex,' said Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary, a spokesman for the Secret Service. 'If misconduct is identified, appropriate action will be taken based on established rules and regulations.' Also commenting on the situation were House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah and member Elijah Cummings of Maryland who said in a statement; 'The fact that this event involved senior-level agents is not only embarrassing but exhibits a clear lack of judgment in a potentially dangerous situation. 'The Committee as a whole remains committed to restoring the integrity of this elite agency and improving accountability at all staff levels.' The crash investigation is the latest embarrassment for the agency tasked with protecting the president. In the last six months, several top agency officials, including former Director Julian Pierson, have been forced out amid revelations of multiple, serious presidential security breaches. In September, a Texas man armed with a knife was able to climb a White House fence and run deep into the executive mansion before being apprehended. An internal investigation and an outside panel report both described serious problems within the agency. A four-member panel of former senior government officials concluded in a report released last year that the agency was too insular and starving for leadership. The panel recommended an agency outsider to replace Pierson, but Obama earlier this year tapped Clancy, a retired agent who led the agency on an interim basis after Pierson's ouster. Quote:
Acting Secret Service Director grovels over agency failures; http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...63_638x374.jpg |
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