The decision by Marc Connolly comes ahead of the public release of a report concluding that he and a colleague were likely impaired by alcohol on the night of March 4 as they drove into a temporary barricade and into an active crime scene, according to government officials briefed on the matter.

The findings of the report, scheduled to be released Thursday, prompted Secret Service Director Joseph P. Clancy to place both men on administrative leave pending further punishments, the officials said.

Government investigators found that Connolly and his colleague George Ogilvie had spent five hours at a downtown bar before returning to the White House that night. Ogilvie had paid a large tab after he, Connolly and two other colleagues stayed at the bar late into the evening after a work party, according to officials who are familiar with the findings but spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss them before the public release.

Secret Service officers on duty at the White House that night told investigators they believed one or both men were under the influence based on their odd behavior, the report will say. Some officers reported that the agents smelled of alcohol.

Clancy believed after reviewing the report last week that Connolly, the No. 2 agent on Obama’s detail, had committed a serious offense warranting a penalty, according to two law enforcement officials. Connolly, a 27-year veteran, decided to retire. Officials are considering whether and how to discipline Ogilvie, a supervisor in the Washington field office, according to officials.

Larry Berger, a lawyer representing Connolly and Ogilvie, said he had not seen the report but that it would be “wholly irresponsible and inaccurate” to conclude that the agents were intoxicated or engaged in misconduct.

Berger declined to discuss Connolly’s and Ogilvie’s job status.

The report, written by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, is critical of the agents’ judgement and behavior as they drove into the bomb investigation that night — inches away from the suspicious package that had been cordoned off.

Law enforcement officers on the scene that night concluded that Connolly was intoxicated, according to people who have read the report. He also had not noticed alerts on his BlackBerry about the investigation into the suspicious package that was occurring at the compound.

“I am disappointed and disturbed at the apparent lack of judgment described in this report,” Clancy said in a statement to The Washington Post. “Behavior of the type described in the report is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” he said. “Our mission is too important. We owe it to the other 99 percent of Secret Service employees who perform their duties every day ethically and with dignity.”

The investigation also found that numerous high-ranking Secret Service supervisors chose not to report the incident, and that it was omitted from a daily report of significant events at the compound provided to Clancy.

The officials’ silence left Clancy, the newly named Secret Service director, in the dark for five days while rumors of the incident spread among current and former Secret Service employees. Ultimately, a retired agent and friend of Clancy’s called him March 9 to tell him about the allegations.

The incident was first reported by The Post on March 11.

Clancy told lawmakers in March that he would hold those involved in the incident accountable after learning the results of the inspector general’s investigation.

In a statement to The Post this week, Clancy said he wants to restore the Secret Service’s stellar reputation.

“The Secret Service has and will continue to institute policies and practices to address employee misconduct and demand the highest level of professionalism of all employees,” he said.

**Carol Leonnig covers federal agencies with a focus on government accountability.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/secret-service-agent-retiring-amid-probe-into-conduct-at-white-house/2015/05/13/86de428c-f806-11e4-a13c-193b1241d51a_story.html