White House Car Crash: Secret Service Destroyed Tapes Showing Car Crash
The Secret Service destroyed surveillance video showing an incident in which two of its members allegedly drove a government car into White House security barricades after drinking at a late-night party, the New York Post reported.
The agency's director, Joseph Clancy, told the House Oversight Committee that the crash cannot be reviewed at good angles because security tapes are routinely destroyed 72 hours after they are made. Clancy made the remarks in a secret hearing, the newspaper said.
The March 4 incident involved "a top member of the president's protective detail," the Washington Post had noted. The newspaper called it an early test for Clancy, whom President Barack Obama appointed "after a string of security lapses ... and other embarrassing missteps" at the agency charged with protecting the First Family and high-ranking U.S. and foreign dignitaries.
"If misconduct is identified, appropriate action will be taken based on established rules and regulations," Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary had said shortly after the incident.
The agents involved have been transferred to "non-supervisory" positions until an internal investigation is complete, the New York Post noted. They allegedly were not given sobriety tests and were allowed to go home after crashing into the barricades.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, told CNN on Tuesday that Clancy only provided his panel with two videos, one of which did not show much of what had occurred.
"We inquired if there were additional tapes and angles, and the director informed us that there may not be because it's their policy to erase them 72 hours after they record, which is just unfathomable," Chaffetz argued. "I can't think of any good reason to do that."
The representative alleged a lack of professionalism in the handling of the surveillance videos.
"This is not your local 7-11," he said. "This is the White House."
Secret Service spokesman Robert Hoback, meanwhile, confirmed the 72-hour rule to the Atlanta-based news channel.
"In the event of an operational security incident at the White House complex, specific video footage is maintained for investigative and protective intelligence purposes," he explained.
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