White House still confident in Secret Service director

March 13, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)

WASHINGTON

The White House maintained Thursday that it had confidence in the new Secret Service director after allegations of two top agents driving into a security barrier on White House grounds after a night out drinking, the latest scandal to befall the storied protection service.

The agency said the men were reassigned and an investigation was being conducted, but the accusations renewed questions about how fit the Secret Service is to protect the first family and how much bad behavior the Obamas are willing to tolerate from their bodyguards.

In addition to driving a government vehicle under the influence of alcohol, the two agents may have driven through an active bomb- investigation scene and possibly even driven over the suspicious package in question, The Washington Post reported. Administration officials who said they had seen surveillance video of the incident declined to confirm that report, but one familiar with the inquiry said the package turned out not to be a bomb.

The top-ranking lawmakers on a House committee that has been investigating the Secret Service for months say they remain focused on whether “instances of misconduct” indicate a larger problem of agency culture.

Aides to President Barack Obama said that he still had faith in the leadership of the Secret Service and that he believed newly appointed Director Joseph Clancy is well-equipped to clean up problems at the scandal-plagued agency.