The Secret Service erased surveillance video that would have shown clear angles of the drunken crash at the White House involving a top member of President Obama’s protection detail, it was revealed Tuesday.
The destruction of the videos came to light as lawmakers questioned the agency’s leadership in the wake of an incident on March 4 when agents veered their car into the scene of a suspicious package after a night of partying, according to Fox News.
Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy told the House Oversight Committee in a secret hearing that there are no good angles of the crash because security tapes are routinely destroyed 72 hours after they are made.
Lawmakers asked the Secret Service why they bothered to record the videos if they plan to destroy them after 72 hours.
Two tapes from a bad angle mysteriously survived, however, and Congress is looking into them.
The agents reportedly were not given sobriety tests and were allowed to go home.
They have been transferred to “nonsupervisory” positions until the probe is complete.