Politics

Report: Secret Service Agents Were ‘Likely’ Alcohol-Impaired

Published

9 years ago

May 14, 2015

In this Oct. 11, 2009 file photo, Secret Service Agent Joseph Clancy, right, walks behind President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their, children Sasha, right, and Malia, second from left, walk back to the White House after attending St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Alicia A. Caldwell, ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two senior Secret Service agents were “more likely than not” impaired by alcohol when they drove a government vehicle through a secure area at the White House earlier this year, a government watchdog concluded in a report released late Wednesday.

Homeland Security Inspector General John Roth found that Marc Connolly and George Ogilvie spent about five hours at a bar during and after a retirement party for a colleague and ran up a “significant” bar tab before driving to the White House on March 4. Their tab included eight glasses of scotch, two vodka drinks, three beers and a glass of wine.

Connolly, the deputy special agent in charge of the Presidential Protection Division, announced his retirement in advance of the report’s release. Ogilvie, the assistant special agent in charge of the agency’s Washington field office, has been placed on administrative leave, the agency said Wednesday.

Both men denied being drunk and told investigators they only had a few of the drinks over the course of the night. Ogilvie said some of the drinks on his tab, including five glasses of scotch, were given to other people at the bar, though he could not recall who received the drinks.

Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy said Wednesday he was “disappointed and disturbed at the apparent lack of judgment described in this report. Behavior of the type described in the report is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

Roth’s report said Ogilvie was driving and Connolly was his passenger when Ogilvie drove his government-owned vehicle into the secured zone where on-duty Secret Service officials were investigating a suspicious package that had been left in the White House complex by a fleeing driver.

Ogilvie “had to do considerable maneuvering” as he drove slowly through the area and pushed a larger construction barrier about five feet with the bumper of his vehicle. Clancy, who was not told about the incident for several days, previously told lawmakers that the agents “nudged” the barrier as they drove into the White House complex.

Roth’s report said “this was no mere ‘bump,’ but rather extended contact to shove the barrel out of the way.”

The report said the pair also unwittingly drove within inches of the suspicious item as they made their way through the secured area.

Roth said officers at the scene didn’t smell alcohol on either Ogilvie or Connolly, but three officers thought something was “not right” about the pair. A watch commander was later told by an officer that “they may be drunk.”

No field sobriety tests were given that night and both men were allowed to drive their government vehicles home from the White House.

Roth concluded that both agents “displayed poor judgment and a lack of institutional awareness” and “more likely than not both Connolly and Ogilvie’s judgment was impaired by alcohol.”

Roth also found that “it would have been far preferable” for the watch commander on duty that night to question the men further about their sobriety or ordered a field sobriety test.

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Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

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17 hours ago

April 19, 2024

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

3 days ago

April 17, 2024

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Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

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Community

Financial Assistance Bill for Descendants of Enslaved Persons to Help Them Purchase, Own, or Maintain a Home

California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) vice chair Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) introduced new legislation related to reparations to the Senate Committee on Housing on April 2 in Sacramento. Senate Bill (SB) 1007, “establishes the Homeowner’s Assistance for Descendants of Enslaved Persons Program to make financial aid or assistance available to descendants for the purposes of purchasing, owning, or maintaining a home,” the legislation states.

Published

3 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood). Photo Courtesy of L.A. Sentinel

California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) vice chair Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) introduced new legislation related to reparations to the Senate Committee on Housing on April 2 in Sacramento.

Senate Bill (SB) 1007, “establishes the Homeowner’s Assistance for Descendants of Enslaved Persons Program to make financial aid or assistance available to descendants for the purposes of purchasing, owning, or maintaining a home,” the legislation states.

The Senate Housing Committee advanced the bill with an 8-1 vote. It will be re-referred to the Appropriations Committee for consideration.

Sen. Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) was the only member who voted against the bill.

“SB 1007 is about starting a long process of paying back a debt that is not only owed, but that was also promised, and is 160 years overdue, to African Americans,” Bradford told the committee chaired by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). “It is the first step in closing the wealth and equity gap created by centuries of slavery and racial discrimination policies.”

The bill aligns with one of the 115 recommendations listed in a two-year study conducted by the California reparations task force, of which Bradford was one of nine members.

Bradford said the report reveals that, in the state of California, a typical Black-owned home is 22% less valuable than a White-owned home.

Various advocacy groups from around the state attended the hearing held at the State Capitol Annex Swing Space. The California Housing Partnership, Bay Area Regional Health and Inequities Initiative, Coalition for A Just and Equitable California, Disability Rights of California, the American Civil Liberties Union of California, and California Community Builders all voiced their support of the bill.