Photo: Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Vice PresidentKamala Harriswas involved in a minor car accident on Monday, an event initially described as a “mechanical failure,” according to multiple reports.
A Secret Service agent driving Harris, 57, in an SUV struck a curb near Foggy Bottom in Washington, D.C., according toThe Washington Post.
“During a protective movement Monday, a vehicle in a motorcade had a minor overcorrection and struck a curb,” Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement on Thursday, perCNN. “The protectee was transferred to a secondary vehicle and the motorcade continued to its destination. There were no injuries to anyone.”
ThePostreported that the impact caused tire damage and brought the vice president’s motorcade to a stop. One of the first rules of driving in motorcades is to avoid halting whenever possible, because it makes the dignitary a sitting target out in the open.
At first, the Secret Service’s protective intelligence division communicated that the accident was a mechanical failure, per the outlet, but Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle told the newspaper that the initial communication did not accurately reflect what had actually happened.
The incident is the latest in recent months involving the Secret Service and possible security lapses.
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In July, Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari sent a letter to the House and Senate Homeland Security Committee, saying that the U.S. Secret Service deleted text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021 following theCapitol Riot. The messages were allegedly erased after his office requested the texts for their probe of the riots.
Meanwhile, two Secret Service agents stationed in South Korea for PresidentJoe Biden’s Asia tour in May were sent home after an altercation with a cab driver and two Korean nationals, according toABC News.
source: people.com
