Posted on 04/17/2012 6:47:23 PM PDT by Steelfish
Secret Service Agents Took 20 Women To Colombian Hotel, Says Senator Susan Collins says director is pursuing 'vigorous internal investigation' as scandal triggers scrutiny of agency's culture
Karen McVeigh 17 April 2012 At least 20 women were brought back to a hotel in Colombia by secret service agents and military personnel who are now under investigation into allegations of misconduct involving prostitutes, according to a US senator.
Speaking after she was briefed by the director of the secret service, Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate homeland security committee, said on Tuesday: "There are 11 agents involved. Twenty or 21 women foreign nationals were brought to the hotel, but allegedly marines were involved with the rest."
A spokesman for the secret service told the Guardian that it had revoked the top security clearances of the 11 employees, who have been placed on administrative leave and can no longer access official facilities. A number of military personnel, believed to be as many as 10, were also allegedly involved in misconduct at the hotel in Cartagena where President Barack Obama was due to stay ahead of a summit.
A US official told Reuters on Monday that more than 10 military service members may have been involved.
The incident, which overshadowed Obama's visit to the summit in Colombia, has triggered scrutiny of a culture where, according to the Washington Post, married secret service agents joke during aircraft take-off that their motto is "wheels up, rings off". It has also prompted questions about discipline and leadership in the service.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
How many people know that prostitution is legal in Columbia? I wonder were else prostitution is legal, that the President has visited? Hmmmmm.....
Boy, wonder how Nevada & Harry Reid would handle that type of publicity? ;)
One evening in about 1988 we were chatting with some friends and one mentioned that she had just returned from a visit to East Germany and talked at length about her experience.
My friend bemoaned the fact that he would have to go home and make a report of this conversation.
Before all this 'not' vitriol crap on your part ... my premise was that this type of activity was much more than a isolated incident on the part of the SS ... only in this instance ... caught in an activity that has apparently become part of their culture.
If more recent news bulletins are to be given credibility ... snorting coke is an add on with at least three SS agents resigning, or fired, in the last 24 hours. No doubt many more to follow ...
yup.
where did you find anything about cocaine usage? The only reports I saw said there were no drugs or paraphernalia found in any of the rooms.
Being fired for the security violations that these agents committed is absolutely appropriate.
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