Video showing Secret Service bumping into barrier released
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are showing for the first time surveillance video of a March 4 incident at the White House involving Secret Service agents. The video shows a government vehicle driving through a secured area at the White House and nudging a temporary barrier while on-duty agents and officers were investigating a suspicious item left in the area. The House Oversight Committee showed it for the first time publicly Tuesday at a hearing. Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy is testifying for the third time about the incident. Two senior agents are accused of drinking before driving into the White House complex and pushing the barrier with the SUV's bumper.Several members were dismayed that Secret Service surveillance tapes are routinely destroyed 72 hours after they're recorded. Clancy said he shared their concern, and recently implemented an extension of that retention period to seven days.Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Massachusetts, told Clancy retention laws in Massachusetts considerably longer. "My local Piggly Wiggly holds surveillance tapes for 30 days," Lynch told him. In the hearing Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, demanded that Clancy turn over all available video of the incident. Clancy said repeatedly that members could view the video any time. But heresisted the call to turn the video over to the committee, citing the Homeland Security Department inspector general's own investigation into the allegations against the agents.