WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy learned about two special agents driving into the White House complex allegedly under the influence of alcohol five days after the incident, according to Clancy’s testimony to US Congress on Tuesday.
US President Barack Obama appointed Clancy in February to head the Secret Service and reform the agency after recent incidents of misconduct.
Clancy admitted that he was “very frustrated” that he did not know about the incident until Monday, and said that he could not act until the Secret Service obtained more facts about what happened in the March 4 incident.
“It's going to take time to change maybe some of this culture [in the Secret Service], there’s no excuse for this information not to come up the chain,” Clancy said.
Concerns over White House security began to escalate after an intruder jumped a fence in September and managed to get to the East Room of the White House before being stopped.
A review of the incident found multiple protocol failures that led to then-Secret Service Director Julia Pierson's resignation.
