Secret Service agents’ initial account of a car accident with Vice President Kamala Harris’s motorcade earlier this week was reportedly misleading.
The Washington Post‘s Carol Leonnig reported on Wednesday that the Secret Service agent who was driving Harris in a scheduled trip to the White House on Monday morning struck the curb of a tunnel, causing one of the SUV’s tires to bust.
The Secret Service transferred Harris to another car to take her to the White House, where medical staffers examined her for injuries. The vice president was unharmed.
However, the agents initially told the higher-ups at the agency that Harris had to switch vehicles because of a “mechanical failure” in the car leading the motorcade.
Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle wasn’t given the full account of the incident until later on Monday afternoon, according to Leonnig. Cheatle reportedly told people close to her that she was disturbed that the first report was off.
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi acknowledged in a statement to the Post that “initial radio traffic indicated this was a mechanical failure, and that was communicated to agency leadership by personnel supporting the motorcade movement.”
“After the protective movement was completed, leadership was verbally updated with additional pertinent facts that the vehicle struck a curb,” he added.
Gugliemi said the accident was caused by a “minor overcorrection” by the agent driving Harris’ SUV.
A Harris spokesperson, Kirsten Allen, said in a statement that the vice president “sustained no injuries” in the accident and “appreciates the quick response by her USSS detail to get her to the White House safely.”
The initial misleading report on the accident comes as the agency faces scrutiny over its handling of agents’ missing texts around the time of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
