'Drunk' Secret Service agents may have driven over suspected bomb
Officials say 'drunk' agents disrupted the probe before crashing into a White House barricade
Two US Secret Service agents suspected of driving under the influence and striking a White House security barricade with their car disrupted an active bomb investigation and may have driven over the suspicious package itself, according to government officials.
These and other new details about the March 4 incident emerged on Thursday from interviews and police records.
The episode has prompted questions from lawmakers about whether the newly appointed leaders of the Secret Service are capable of turning around the troubled agency. Questions include whether a Secret Service supervisor ordered officers to let the agents go home without facing sobriety testing.
An investigation by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general is focusing on the possible misconduct of two senior agents, including a top supervisor on President Barack Obama's protective detail.
The incident unfolded on a hectic night for Secret Service officers guarding the White House.
At about 10.25pm that night, a Pennsylvania woman hopped out of her blue Toyota near the southeast entrance of the White House, and, holding a package wrapped in a green shirt, approached an agent.
"I'm holding an [expletive] bomb," she yelled, according to a government official.