WASHINGTON — The administration is investigating allegations that two senior Secret Service agents, including a top member of President Barack Obama’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.
Agency spokesman Brian Leary confirmed the investigation after an inquiry 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, which he said will be pursued by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.
Leary said officials have briefed Joseph Clancy, who was named by Obama last month to head the agency following a string of embarrassing security lapses.
A law enforcement official said that Clancy on Monday directed the agency to contact the inspector general’s office about taking over the case in part because it involves such senior officials.
“If misconduct is identified, appropriate action will be taken based on established rules and regulations,” Leary said. He added that the agency “will fully cooperate” with the inspector general’s office.
An administration official said that, in “recent days,” the White House had been “made aware of the allegations and the steps being taken by the Secret Service to ensure that the incident is thoroughly investigated.”
The agents under investigation are Mark Connolly, the second-in-command on Obama’s detail, and George Ogilvie, a senior supervisor in the Washington field office.
Connolly and Ogilvie declined to comment through the Secret Service spokesman.
Witnesses reported that the car’s overhead flashing lights had been activated and both agents were showing their badges to get through a section of the grounds that had been closed off because of an investigation of a suspicious package, according to the people familiar with the incident. The vehicle ran through security tape before hitting the barricades, which an agency official said had been set up temporarily during the investigation into the package.
Secret Service rules prohibit turning on flashing lights without a security reason and driving a government vehicle after drinking alcohol.
The two men had been attending a party at a nearby downtown Washington bar to honor the retirement of departing Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan.
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