MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy told members of the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday that a recent car accident involving two allegedly inebriated agents is his “first test” as he tries to chart a new course for the service.
Clancy also expressed concern that he learned about the allegations five days after initial reports that Mark Connolly and George Ogilvie crashed into the White House grounds. Both have since been reassigned pending a further investigation.
“I should have been informed…and there will be accountability,” Clancy said after intense questioning from lawmakers. “I’m frustrated. I’m very frustrated that we didn’t know about this until Monday.”
As soon as he and his staff found out about the allegations — through an “anonymous email” — Clancy says he held a meeting to discuss why there was such a delay.
“We had a good stern talk about that,” he said. “There’s no excuse for this information to not come up the chain.”
Many consider the episode the first major test for Clancy, a Secret Service veteran who assumed the top post last month. In an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Pierre Thomas three weeks ago, Clancy vowed to chart a new course for the Secret Service.
“We have not received an unfair rap,” he conceded. “I think when you fail, and we have failed, we own it. Now, it’s up to us to correct it.”
Last September, an Iraq war vet with a small knife in his pocket jumped the White House’s perimeter fence and made it deep inside the executive mansion. That incident came more than two years after the Secret Service was shaken by the 2012 prostitution scandal involving staffers in Cartagena, Colombia.
Follow @ABCNewsRadio
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
