Thread: Colombia Secret Service Prostitution Scandal Spreads to the DEA

Colombia Secret Service Prostitution Scandal Spreads to the DEA

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Secret Service El Salvador Trip Investigated

By PIERRE THOMAS (@PierreTABC) and JASON RYAN (@JasonRyanABC) WASHINGTON, May 21, 2012

A month after the Secret Service was rocked by allegations that agents brought prostitutes to a Colombia hotel where they were preparing for a visit by President Obama, the Drug Enforcement Administration today announced that at least three of its agents are also under investigation for allegedly
hiring prostitutes in Cartagena.

Two of the agents allegedly had encounters with masseuses in the apartment of one of the agents, according to Sen. Susan Collins, the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

"It's disturbing that we may be uncovering a troubling culture that spans more than one law enforcement agency," the Maine Republican said this evening. "In addition to the Secret Service scandal, we now learn that at least two DEA agents apparently entertained female foreign national masseuses in the Cartagena apartment of one of the agents. The evidence uncovered thus far indicates that this likely was not just a one-time incident."

The revelations that Secret Service personnel had been drinking heavily and cavorting with prostitutes ahead of Obama's trip to Colombia last month overshadowed the president's trip to the Summit of the Americas. Twelve members of the military were also investgated for allegedly hiring prostitutes.

Eight of the 12 Secret Service employees implicated in the scandal lost their jobs, another is in the process of losing his security clearances, and three agents were cleared of serious misconduct but still could be disciplined. The military has completed its investigation but no disciplinary action has been carried out.

"The Drug Enforcement Administration was provided information from the Secret Service unrelated to the Cartagena hotel Secret Service incident, which DEA immediately followed up on, making DEA employees available to be interviewed by the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General," a DEA spokesperson said in a statement.

"DEA takes allegations of misconduct very seriously and will take appropriate personnel action, if warranted, upon the conclusion of the OIG investigation." the statement said.

A spokesman for the OIG said the DEA is cooperating in the investigation, which is being coordinated with the Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service.

The DEA has agents posted in Colombia to work on counter-narcotic and drug interdiction missions with Colombian authorities. According to officials the agents were among those assigned in Colombia, they were not specifically working on the President's trip.

The revelations about the DEA agents comes ahead of a hearing scheduled on Wednesday with Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

Colombia Secret Service Prostitution Scandal Spreads to the DEA - ABC News

DEA agents investigated for hiring prostitutes in Colombia

By NBC News and news services

Three U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents are under investigation after a Secret Service agent said the trio had hired prostitutes in Colombia, Justice Department officials confirmed to NBC News.

But the allegation of their activity was said to be separate from the incident involving Secret Service personnel, who also were in Cartagena, Colombia, for President Barack Obama's visit in mid-April and hired prostitutes, according to NBC News.

"The Drug Enforcement Administration was provided information from the Secret Service unrelated to the Cartagena hotel Secret Service incident, which DEA immediately followed up on, making DEA employees available to be interviewed by the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General," a DEA spokesman said. "DEA takes allegations of misconduct very seriously and will take appropriate personnel action, if warranted, upon the conclusion of the OIG investigation."

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a statement that she had been briefed about the involvement of two or more DEA agents on May 4 but was asked to withhold public comment until the agents could be taken out of Colombia and questioned.

"It's disturbing that we may be uncovering a troubling culture that spans more than one law enforcement agency," Collins said.

Rep. King says he won't meet with Colombian prostitute at center of Secret Service scandal

According to CBS, the Justice Department is working with the DEA, the U.S. Secret Service, the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service on the investigation.

Unlike the Secret Service, the DEA has permanent offices in Colombia.

Prostitution is legal in Colombia.

The Associated Press and NBC's Pete Williams contributed to this report.

U.S. News - DEA agents investigated for hiring prostitutes in Colombia

Secret Service agents accused of 64 acts of sexual misconduct

US Secret Service agents have been accused of more than 60 acts of sexual misconduct in recent years, it emerged Wednesday, as senators grilled the agency's director over his handling of the Colombian prostitute scandal.


Prostitute Dania Suarez triggered the scandal when an agent refused to pay her $800.

By Raf Sanchez, Washington
10:23PM BST 23 May 2012

Six weeks after it was revealed that members of President Barack Obama's elite bodyguard had hired prostitutes ahead of a major international summit, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan apologised to a congressional hearing but denied there was a widespread culture among his agents.

However, his claim to enforce a "zero tolerance" policy towards misbehaviour by agents was met with scepticism from by a committee of US Senators, who detailed a long list of alleged impropriety by the Secret Service.

Senator Joe Lieberman said the Service's own records showed 64 allegations or complaints of sexual behavior by employees in the last five years.

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While many of these involved sending sexual emails there were at least instances of agents beginning relationships with foreigner nationals, something strictly against the rules of an agency tasked with protecting the President.

Mr Lieberman also said one agent had been accused of "non-consensual intercourse", while Mr Sullivan admitted that another had been fired after trying to hire a prostitute in Washington, who turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Senators seized on the long record as proof that April's incident in Cartagena, Colombia, was not an isolated incident.

Eight agents have so far lost their jobs over the scandal, which only emerged after one of them refused to pay a prostitute the $800 he had drunkenly promised.

Senator Susan Collins, the most senior Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said the Colombian incident was "morally repugnant" and "not a one-time event".

"The circumstances unfortunately suggest an issue of culture," she said.
Mr Sullivan, who has so far retained his job and the confidence of the Obama administration, said he could "understand" the allegation but insisted that the vast majority of his 7,000 employees were among "the most dedicated, hardest working, self-sacrificing" members of the US government.

He added that the scandal was the work of a small minority and he apologised “for the conduct of these employees and the distraction it has caused.”

While Mr Sullivan has earned praise for his seemingly decisive handling of the incident, which has also implicated 12 military personnel, he faces the worrying possibility of a fresh eruption after it emerged that four of the sacked agents would appeal against their dismissals.

The appeals raise the prospect of fresh and damning details emerging.

Secret Service agents accused of 64 acts of sexual misconduct - Telegraph