A few days ago, the car carrying US Vice President Kamala Harris was involved in an accident, but the Secret Service said the incident was just a “mechanical failure,” according to the Washington Post.
The newspaper said: “The car carrying Harris was in a convoy to take her to work and the accident occurred on a closed road in Washington, D.C. on Monday morning.”
The incident “raised concern for the director of the Secret Service and the vice president, and also reignited concerns about the agency’s history of hiding its wrongdoings,” according to two people familiar with the incident who spoke to the newspaper.
“A Secret Service agent (driver) who was driving a Harris SUV hit the edge of a downtown tunnel so hard that a tire had to be changed, causing the convoy to stop near Foggy Bottom at approximately 10:20. morning,” said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Video footage of Harris’ motorcade blocking the tunnel surfaced on TikTok on Monday, and according to the Washington Post, the video appears to have been filmed over the phone by a man in a building overlooking Virginia Street.
The newspaper adds that “Harris had to be transferred to another car in the motorcade so that the agents could transport her safely to the White House.”
“The high level of training required for agents driving the president’s car and the vice president’s car, which is a common routine, has led many in the Secret Service, as well as Harris, to wonder how such an accident happened.”
“The Secret Service also failed to capture key details of the incident in an email by formally notifying the high command of the motorcade’s delays.” “A mechanical failure in the vehicle prompted agents to move Harris to another vehicle during a scheduled drive to the White House,” reads the details of the warning given to The Washington Post.
By Monday afternoon, Secret Service Director Kim Chettle had received information from other agents that the warning did not accurately convey what happened, one person said. In fact, several other Secret Service agents, as well as Harris, knew that her driver had already crashed into the sidewalk of the tunnel.
A spokeswoman for the vice president said Harris is grateful to the Secret Service for everything they have done to keep her safe.
Chettle, the second woman to lead the Secret Service, has been in the job for a month since US President Joe Biden named her as the new director in late August. Harris incident warning, according to a Secret Service official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The newspaper notes that “The Secret Service has a long and tumultuous history of hiding its mistakes and misconduct, with most top executives and managers often relying on secrecy to cover up the agency’s weaknesses and failures.”
