Report: Secret Service reassigns staff after drinking scandal

The Secret Service reassigned more than 20 agents and demoted a supervisor in charge of its special operations division after an incident involving excessive drinking ahead of President Obama’s overseas trip last month, according to The Washington Post. 

The service is also implementing rules on drinking that go further than the ones implemented following an alcohol and prostitution scandal with agents in Colombia two years ago. 

{mosads}Agents in the division will be barred from drinking within 12 hours of a shift or 24 hours before Obama arrives at a location. The previous rules restricted drinking 10 hours before duty. 

According to The Post, Dan Donahue, the agent in charge of the division, was replaced Tuesday by Mike Rolin, who was the deputy supervisor of the Washington field office. 

The Secret Service did not confirm the supervisor shake-up, but spokesman Ed Donovan said agents were being reassigned in the wake of the overseas incident as well as a car accident involving agents before Obama’s trip to Florida last month. 

“Director [Julia] Pierson maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding incidents of misconduct and continues to evaluate the best human capital practices and policies for the workforce,” he told The Post. 

Three agents were sent home from Obama’s trip to the Netherlands late last month after one passed out drunk in a hallway of a hotel ahead of the president’s arrival in the country. 

In another incident, a police officer reported smelling alcohol on an agent’s breath after he got in a car accident ahead of Obama’s trip to the state. The police officer, however, did not find that the Secret Service agent was drunk. 

White House spokesman Jay Carney previously said the administration continued to have faith in the Secret Service but appropriate action needed to be taken. 

He said the president continued to support director Julia Pierson’s tougher guidelines.