White House surveillance tapes may have been destroyed, Secret Service says

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Rep. Stewart grills Secret Service head

Republican says culture at agency must change amid agent incidents, budget woes

Surveillance videos taken on the night two Secret Service agents ran through a police scene after attending a party earlier this month may have been destroyed, Congressional sources told Fox News on Wednesday.

The disclosure comes as lawmakers on Capitol Hill have questioned the agency's leadership in the wake of the March 4 incident, in which the agents were returning from a party for a departing spokesman, and drove into the scene of an active suspicious package investigation. (The package turned out to be a book.)

The videos were taken from security cameras on the White House grounds and show the car driven by the two senior agents into the area blocked off because of the suspicious package investigation. Lawmakers from the House Oversight and Judiciary Committee watched two separate videos of the recent White House Secret Service incident on Tuesday afternoon when they met with agency Director Joseph P. Clancy.

But other potential videos from fixed positions around the White House grounds may have been destroyed, per Secret Service policy.

Lawmakers asked the Secret Service why they bothered to record the videos if they plan to destroy the tapes after 72 hours, the sources said.

Clancy, who took over the agency last month following a high-profile security incidents at the Secret Service, including the individual who jumped over the White House fence and made it inside the residence, was grilled by lawmakers before a House Appropriations Tuesday over the agency's direction.

"Dude, you don't have to earn their trust. You're their boss. They're supposed to earn your trust," Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, told Clancy.

Stewart was responding to Clancy -- trying to explain why the Secret Service has been caught up in a series of controversies and security incidents -- saying it will "take time" to change the culture and he, as director, needs to "build trust" with the workforce.

That didn't sit well with several members of Congress.

"I find this testimony shocking," Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said.

Clancy said initial reports he heard from an anonymous source were that the agents were "inebriated." But he said the matter is now being investigated by the Homeland Security inspector general's office, and said he hasn't pursued an investigation of his own.

Further, he said the agents have been transferred to "nonsupervisory" positions, yet are still getting paid while that probe is underway.

The incident has proven to be the rare instance where both parties appear united -- they made clear that they expect the culture to change immediately, and that the latest incident is unacceptable.

"This will not stand," Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said. He called Clancy's statement that he's not personally investigating "hogwash."

The agents reportedly were not given a sobriety test and were allowed to go home. Clancy could not say why they were not given that test.

Clancy also testified that while the incident happened on a Wednesday, he did not learn about it until the following Monday. He said there was "no excuse" for that information not to have come to him earlier.

But he stressed that he's seen some video footage of the incident, and the agents who interrupted the scene were driving at a "low rate of speed."

Clancy said he didn't want to act "improperly" or too soon, but vowed: "There will be accountability."

He said he would ultimately review a "table of penalties" in deciding what that accountability might look like.

Rogers and others suggested people should be fired over the incident.

The Inspector General has launched a probe into the widely reported allegations. "The IG's job is to conduct thorough and independent investigations, and that's what we will do in this situation," Inspector General John Roth stated in a press release. "Once we have completed our investigation, we will report our findings to the Secretary, the Congress, and the public."

The latest incident follows a string of high-profile security incidents at the Secret Service, including the individual who jumped over the White House fence and made it inside the residence last fall.

Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.