Last Updated on October 9, 2022
Kamala Harris’ Secret Service motorcade encountered a disruption when her car hit a curb in Washington, D.C., but the Secret Service provided a false report about the incident. A new report from the Washington Post details the gaps in the agency’s reporting.
The Secret Service initially reported the incident as a “mechanical failure,” but now the incident is described differently. The Service now says that Harris’ motorcade “had a minor overcorrection and struck a curb.”
Secret Service director Kim Cheatle expressed concerns that the accident had been “mischaracterized” as a “mechanical failure”, according to a report from the Washington Post.
In a statement to USA Today, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said on Wednesday that one of the vehicles that was part of the motorcade “had a minor overcorrection and struck a curb.”
“Initial radio traffic indicated this was a mechanical failure and that was communicated to agency leadership by personnel supporting the motorcade movement,” Guglielmi said. “After the protective movement was completed, leadership was verbally updated with additional pertinent facts that the vehicle struck a curb.”
A cell phone video captured the accident as the motorcade was heading into a tunnel.
How long was Kamala is the tunnel when the "accident" happened? Is it Special Services protocol to stay in place even if it means keeping your principle trapped in the tunnel? What really was going on under that overpass? pic.twitter.com/UzoLqc6oBb
— Craig Voss (@Craig1454) October 9, 2022
Agents reportedly withheld key details of the crash from their superiors , with the Secret Service’s protective intelligence division ascribing the transfer to “a mechanical failure” in an internal alert. It was not until days later that Secret Service director Kim Cheatle notified the public that the alert had been improperly reported, the Washington Post reported.
Kirsten Allen, a spokeswoman for Vice President Harris, said the VP “sustained no injuries and appreciates the quick response by her USSS detail to get her to the White House safely.”
