Video shows 'drunk' Secret Service agents hit security barricade in their SUV outside White House as colleagues investigated a potential bomb

  • March 4 incident involved allegedly drunk senior agents who drove into the White House complex in a government vehicle
  • A suspicious package was under investigation nearby as a potential bomb; it can be seen in a police video released Tuesday
  • Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy testified in a congressional hearing and defended his agency
  • Republican oversight chairman said it was 'highly suspicious' that the Secret Service had deleted its own video of the incident

Police surveillance video shown publicly for the first time Tuesday shows Secret Service agents in their government vehicle driving through the secured area and nudging a temporary barrier at low speed as it drove toward a checkpoint. 

The incident occurred as on-duty officers and agents investigated a suspicious package thrown near the White House on March 4 – and an accompanying threat that it contained a bomb.

The House Oversight Committee showed the video from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department during a hearing on Capitol Hill. 

Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy was testifying for the third time about the incident, in which two senior agents are accused of drinking before driving into the White House complex and pushing the barrier with the SUV's bumper.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO 

This screen grab from a police video from March 4 shows two allegedly drunk Secret Service agents hit a White House barricade while a suspicious package was being investigated nearby

This screen grab from a police video shows a March 4, 2015 incident involving allegedly drunk Secret Service agents who hit a White House barricade while a suspicious package was under investigation nearby

Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy said the agency has adopted a new policy requiring agents to wait 10 hours after drinking before they can operate a government vehicle 

NUDGED IT THIS MUCH: Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the third such grilling he's endured in the last week

The House Oversight Committee heard testimony about how Clancy only learned about the incident after this message had already circulated among agents for several days

ANONYMOUS EMAIL: The House Oversight Committee heard testimony about how Clancy learned about the incident – after this message had already circulated among agents for several days

Clancy has been criticized for the agency's handling of the incident. He has said he was out of the loop in the days that followed.

'The fact that I did not learn about this allegation until five days [afterward] ... infuriates me,' he told the congressional panel.

'This is unacceptable. Our mission is too important for this to happen. It undermines my leadership.'

He said he only learned about the incident from discussions about an anonymous email that was circulating within the agency.

The email described the off-duty agents as 'both extremely intoxicated' and confused about the bomb investigation underway near where their vehicle came to rest.

It said uniformed Secret Service officers at the scene 'were going to arrest both of them, but the UD (Uniform Division) watch commander said not to.'

'A liot of people got this email,' fumed Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the oversight committee's ranking Democrat.

'A lot of them got it,' he blared at Clancy, but you didn't!'

Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the committee's chairman, angrily recounted a series of events including an 11-minutes stretch of time the Secret Service let the suspicious package lay near the White House before evacuating the area.

'I don’t understand how that happens,' he said.

DC Metropolitan Police video shows a car delivering a suspicious package to the White House perimeter

DC Metropolitan Police video shows a car delivering a suspicious package to the White House perimeter; the woman driving claimed it contained a bomb

Minutes later an SUV driven by an agent who had been drinkign at a retirement party drove into a Secret Service barricade near the scene of the 'bomb' investigation

Minutes later an SUV driven by an agent who had been drinkign at a retirement party drove into a Secret Service barricade near the scene of the 'bomb' investigation

Clancy, a former top agent on President Obama's protective detail, came out of retirement to lead the Secret Service after a series of scandals forced out his predecessor, Julia Pierson

Clancy, a former top agent on President Obama's protective detail, came out of retirement to lead the Secret Service after a series of scandals forced out his predecessor, Julia Pierson

The March 4 debacle was part of 'a litany of recent mishaps,' Chaffet lectured, which 'raise major concerns' about the Secret Service's ability to protect the presidential mansion and the first family.

'This has to stop,' he said. 'We need to understand why these incidents keep happening.' 

The Homeland Security Department's inspector general is investigating allegations against the agents.

Lawmakers asked to speak with the agents involved, as well as Secret Service supervisors who were on duty that night, during the hearing. 

The Secret Service declined to make them available and Clancy appeared alone.

In a written statement, Clancy said the case remains under investigation and any appropriate discipline will be imposed afterward.

Clancy also announced a new policy put in place after acknowledging that some video of the March 4 incident had been deleted. 

The video was shown to a crowded hearing room on Capitol Hill as a helpless Clancy watched 

The video was shown to a crowded hearing room on Capitol Hill as a helpless Clancy watched 

Ultimately the Secret Service agents on duty determined that the package wasn't dangerous – but the agents in the SUV couldn't have known that

Ultimately the Secret Service agents on duty determined that the package wasn't dangerous – but the agents in the SUV couldn't have known that

Clancy said the agency will start retaining routine surveillance video for seven days. Previously, surveillance recordings that weren't being used as part of ongoing investigations were deleted after 72 hours.

Chaffetz said it was 'highly suspicious' the video was deleted.

'We asked Director Clancy to turn over video footage of the incident. He said no,' Chaffetz fumed on Tuesday.