Drunken Secret Service Agents Disrupted Bomb Investigation; Interview with Rep. Jason Chaffetz
BLITZER: We're back with Utah representative, Jason Chaffetz. He's the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. We're talking about the latest scandal erupting around the Secret Service. This is awful what's going on. How did this happen again?</s>REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM CHAIRMAN: Well, evidently, not this past Wednesday but the Wednesday before that, 10:30 at night, you have a woman who evidently throws something either through or over the White House fence claiming that it was a bomb. So there's an active investigation going on. And by the way, some reporting -- good reporting by Carol Leonnig at the "Washington Post," evidently this person just gets in her car and leaves. And it was a long time before they actually were able to apprehend this person. But nevertheless during this active investigation, all of a sudden you have two agents who come up, go through evidently from what I've heard, going through the tape and actually bumping into a barricade there when the officers there, the Secret Service uniform division, approaches these people, they evidently smell alcohol on their breath. They call a supervisor. Supervisor decides to unilaterally let them go. Don't hold them back, get in your car, you two, they just drive off and move on. And it begs a lot of questions.</s>BLITZER: Well, that apparently goes against regulations, if you're caught driving drunk, if you're suspected driving drunk by uniform Secret Service officers, you should at least do a sobriety test and shouldn't necessarily let those Secret Service agents continue driving if they are drunk.</s>CHAFFETZ: It's one of the big questions that Elijah Cummings and I have -- we're very united in this, and very frustrated that these people were allowed to go. If it's true that these officers had suspected that these people had alcohol on their breath, that they were driving, that they impeded, got in the way of an active investigation, a potential bomb on the White House grounds, and the supervisor just decided to let them go, I mean, this is what is so terribly frustrating. And then it also begs the questions, Wolf, about what is the new Secret Service director doing about it? And I think we're worried that he's not necessarily doing enough.</s>BLITZER: That supervisor who let those two agencies continue on, one of them, by the way, the number two agent on the president's personal security detail, the other one a supervisor himself, but the supervisor who said just get out of here, go home, is that guy still supervising?</s>CHAFFETZ: He is. And I talked to the Secret Service Director Clancy last night. I asked him specifically about that. The two people who were involved in the car, potentially, you know, had alcohol on their breath, they have been moved to a different job temporarily. But the supervisor who made this decision, nothing's happened to that person. He is still in his same position. And that begs a lot of questions. And I really worry if the new Secret Service director does not fundamentally transform the Secret Service, we are going to continue to have these problems. They can never ever happen and yet they keep happening.</s>BLITZER: And you heard Michelle Kosinski in a report from the White House. She went through point after point after point. Here is the question, a lot of us are worried about the safety of the president of the United States and his family. Should we be?</s>CHAFFETZ: I think we should. The more I've learned about it, the more concerned I become. And look, I -- we're very united, Republicans and Democrats, in saying the safety of the first family is paramount. And we're putting this person in jeopardy and his family in jeopardy. These are very, very senior Secret Service agents. And for them to participate in it, if it's true, they need to finish the investigation, there have got to be severe consequences to this, Wolf. There haven't in the past. But we're going to find out a lot what Director Clancy is willing to do.</s>BLITZER: So you're not ready, though, to recommend, at least until the investigation is complete, some sort of thorough overhaul of the U.S. Secret Service?</s>CHAFFETZ: Oh, no. I think they should have been doing an overhaul a long time ago. We've known about these problems. It's been a good old boys club. Some arrogance and you know, some-- hey, we're above the law type of attitude. Most of the people in the Secret Service, good, honest, patriotic, hardworking people. They love their country, they love the president and the White House. And -- but you got some people that have to go. And culturally, they keep making these mistakes in an agency that can never ever make these mistakes.</s>BLITZER: Yes, just one little mistake, that could be a disaster.</s>CHAFFETZ: Yes.</s>BLITZER: Now you mentioned Elijah Cummings, the Democratic representative from Maryland. He is the ranking member of your committee. You're the chairman. You're on the same page with him. So what are the two of you and your colleagues on the committee going to do about this?</s>CHAFFETZ: Elijah Cummings and I both independently spoke with Director Clancy. And then we spoke on the phone last night. And we think we've got a good bipartisan game plan moving forward that starts with bringing the director in to brief us and other members of Congress early next week. We're calling upon him to make sure that he deals with this problem right now. I think we both -- it's fair to say -- I don't want to put words in Elijah's mouth, but I think it's fair to say that we're both very concerned about the lack of action on the supervisor's part.</s>BLITZER: Yes.</s>CHAFFETZ: If those parts of the story are truly. And then the other part, though, I'm really concerned about is, a woman comes and throws something over and says it's a bomb, and just drives off.</s>BLITZER: Yes.</s>CHAFFETZ: How does that happen without her being apprehended?</s>BLITZER: Yes, I spoke to Elijah Cummings --</s>CHAFFETZ: That's a smaller part of the story but it's huge.</s>BLITZER: I spoke to him earlier today, he's on the same page with you. Good to see some bipartisan cooperation on Capitol Hill on this issue. This is too important for partisan bickering. Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.</s>CHAFFETZ: Thanks, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Coming up, much more on the breaking news. We're going back live to Ferguson, Missouri, where county police and state troopers are about to take over security for protests after two police officers are shot and wounded in front of the Ferguson Police headquarters.