Free Republic

Sarah Palin's charge that the Secret Service prostitute scandal highlighted President Barack Obama's "poor management skills" drew a sharp rebuke Friday from the White House, where chief spokesman Jay Carney dubbed it absurd and politically motivated. "It is preposterous to politicize the Secret Service," Carney told reporters at his daily briefing. Palin and Republican Senator Jeff Sessions have in recent days charged that the scandal, coupled to the outrage over the General Services Administration's lavish spending on a convention in Las Vegas, reflect poorly on Obama. Those two controversies, as well as the tragic mass slaying of Afghan civilians, allegedly...

The Daily News can reveal the first photo of the 24-year-old Colombian call girl whose encounter with a cheapskate Secret Service agent ignited the agency’s worst sex scandal. One of the agents tried to brush off his girl, the single mother of a 9-year-old son known as Tania, the next morning with only $28 in cab fare. She caused a ruckus, demanding her full payment, so cops got involved and word reached the US Embassy.

Does U.S. President Obama have a foreign policy or should we call it a "dangerous farcical policy." Is he even control of the White House? By now, most people have heard the story of how, "11 Secret Service agents" and "as many as 10 U.S. military personnel," hired prostitutes, drank alcohol, and possibly used illicit drugs -- all in "security preparation" for the president to attend the Summit of the Americas in Columbia. Besides the security debacle, Obama's diplomatic effort, "wasn't exactly smooth sailing." But there's a subtle clincher to Obama's ridiculous Columbia trip which belies his true incompetency, a...

The disgraced Secret Service supervisors accused of engaging in a cocaine-fueled hooker party on the taxpayer dime will still cash in on lucrative taxpayer-funded pensions. Three Secret Service agents tasked with protecting President Barack Obama have been terminated since it was revealed that they reportedly caroused with prostitutes and drugs in Colombia. The Washington Post Thursday identified the two supervisors who have been forced out of the agency. Supervisor David Randall Chaney, 48, has been allowed to retire, while Greg Stokes, the assistant special agent in charge of the K-9 division, has been fired with cause. A third low-level officer...

At least three more Secret Service employees involved in the Colombian prostitution scandal are expected to lose their jobs Friday, as the Pentagon increased to 11 the number of military personnel it’s investigating as part of the incident. The three additional departures, confirmed to POLITICO by a federal official, bring the total number of employees to be forced out or to have quit their jobs to at least six. There are 11 members total of the Secret Service thought to be involved in the scandal, which occurred ahead of President Barack Obama’s trip to Cartagena for the Summit of the...

Leadership: What do the GSA spending scandal, the Secret Service sex scandal and Leon Panetta's expensive weekend trips home have in common? They stem from a culture of irresponsibility set by the man in the White House. When President Obama came to Washington, he promised to usher in a "new era of responsibility," one where everyone would recognize "duties to ourselves, our nation and the world." But Obama has delivered the opposite. He's used the presidency to lavish himself and his family with hugely expensive perks. He's used the Treasury as a piggy bank to reward donors and friends. He's...

Dem leader Pelosi 'stunned and disgusted' by Secret Service scandalBy Mike Lillis - 04/19/12 04:13 PM ET House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says she's "stunned and disgusted" by the prostitution scandal dogging the Secret Service this month. The California Democrat said she has not been briefed on the incident — in which almost a dozen Secret Service agents caroused with prostitutes ahead of President Obama's recent trip to Colombia — but she urged a quick investigation into the culture of the agency and suggested those involved should be fired. "It's a stunning thing. It's actually disgusting," Pelosi said Thursday at...

Twin GSA, Secret Service scandals pose new threat to ObamaBy Amie Parnes - 04/19/12 06:22 PM ET The General Services Administration (GSA) and Secret Service scandals have been a distraction for the White House as it moves toward the general election and fights the perception of an out-of-control government. The double dose of scandals has made it difficult for the White House to get its message out, and Republicans have piled on, pushing a tone of cynicism and disappointment with a government they say needs to be reined in. Obama’s likely opponent, Mitt Romney, said this week that he would...

April 19, 2012 You Thought You Knew Prostitutes? You Don’t Know Prostitutes Glenn T. Stanton The president’s Secret Service detail, preparing for his visit to Colombia, took some time to unwind and enjoy the local flavor. We all know the sordid details. But the New York Times today gives us more detail on the matter, some very important detail.These very high-level men did not consort with prostitutes. No, these ladies were at a level commensurate with their clients. They were escorts. Our Paper of Record performs an important community service, giving these two ladies the opportunity to clarify the difference....

DOJ investigating Cartagena hooker. Department of Justice can't decide whether to prosecute for Standing her Ground or Holder for being Fast and Furious.

President Obama erred during a speech at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, when attempting to call the disputed archipelago by its Spanish name. Instead of saying Malvinas, however, Mr Obama referred to the islands as the Maldives, a group of 26 atolls off that lie off the South coast of India. Cristina Kirchner, the Argentine president, has renewed her country's sovereignty claim to the Falklands in the build-up to the 30th anniversary of the Argentine invasion of the islands, which triggered the Falklands War, on April 2. She has accused David Cameron of maintaining a "colonial enclave"...

The alleged sexcapades by several Secret Service agents while in Colombia in service to President Barack Obama may not just be an embarassment for their country; rather, the objects of their affections may have been exploited against their will, and the investigation into the debaucherous debacle necessarily must include the circumstances by which the involved women found themselves in the meat market. Legal prostitution in Colombia and other countries has generated a thriving sex tourism industry, and in meeting supply for the demand many women find themselves enslaved in the trade. For example, in Spain where prostitution is legal an...

It was in this one-story, windowless, brick building with a cheesy neon sign on top that 11 Secret Service agents assigned to protect the President ended up embarrassing their country all for a little fun and flesh, local sources told the Daily News. Drinking beers and whisky that range in price from 40,000 to 150,000 pesos ($24 to $84) for bottle service, the agents had their pick of young girls with long, black and brown hair and lots of makeup. “The gringos got rowdy at the bar. They drank fine whisky and slept with the prettiest ones, the ones that...

President Barack Obama, speaking for the first time about allegations that Secret Service agents hired prostitutes, said Sunday that "of course I'll be angry" if those accusations are proven true by an investigation. Obama said the agents represent the United States and are supposed to conduct themselves with the highest levels of dignity anywhere in the world. "Obviously, what's been reported doesn't match up to those standards," Obama said in a news conference wrapping his appearance at a Latin America summit. The president never directly mentioned that the specific accusations, confirmed by media outlets, that agents were cavorting with prostitutes...

CBS News has learned that at least one United States Secret Service agent is alleged to have sought the services of a prostitute in Cartagena

CARTAGENA, Colombia — President Obama, on a three-day trip to South America, attacked GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney’s stance on immigration reform today, saying his support for Arizona’s tough immigration law is “very troublesome.” “We now have a Republican nominee who said that the Arizona laws are a model for the country. . . and these are laws that potentially would allow someone to be stopped and picked up and asked where their citizenship papers are based on an assumption,” Obama told Univision during an interview in Cartagena, where the president is attending the Summit of the Americas. The three-day trip...

The dozen Secret Service agents sent home after a prostitution scandal in Colombia were busted after at least one of them refused to pay a hooker, sources said. The scandal — a black eye for the United States’ reputation abroad — was revealed Friday before President Obama arrived in Cartagena for the Summit of the Americas. The 12 agents were part of an advance team meant to secure a local hotel before the summit began — yet their attention apparently turned to taking advantage of Colombia’s policy of legal prostitution. “They had arranged to have a bunch of prostitutes come...

The U.S. Secret Service does more than protect Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. — the agency also pays him rent. Since April, Mr. Biden has collected more than $13,000 from the agency charged with protecting him and his family, for use of a rental cottage adjacent to the waterfront home he owns in a Wilmington, Del., neighborhood. Mr. Biden, listed not as vice president in federal purchasing documents but as “vendor,” is eligible for up to $66,000 by the time the government contract expires in the fall of 2013, the records show. Officials say the arrangement came about when...

No, he’s not moonlighting as an agent. Vice President Joe Biden last year earned $20,900 in rental income from the Secret Service, which is paying him to host agents on his property so they can protect him. Most high-profile people in need of protection pay people to keep them safe. Government officials are allowed to have taxpayers pick up the tab. Biden is unique in that he actually gets paid by his bodyguards for the right to protect him. Biden’s tax records list rental income of $20,900 from a “cottage” on is property, which is reportedly being leased by the...

President Obama is off on Air Force One tomorrow, this time for another summit in Latin America. Not that much will get accomplished at the two-day Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, the sixth in an ongoing series. As with pretty much anything Obama is doing these days, the trip has more to do with election year politics at home than foreign affairs in countries that most Americans hardly ever think of unless they're featured on a popular TV show like "NCIS," as Cartagena was this week. The Democrat wants to be seen lavishing attention on the homelands of...