11 Secret Service Agents Put On Leave Amid Prostitution Inquiry

[Lite Beer]

11 Secret Service agents put on leave amid prostitution inquiry

By David Nakamura and Ed O’Keefe,

The U.S. Secret Service on Saturday placed 11 agents on administrative leave as the agency investigates allegations that the men brought prostitutes to their hotel rooms in Cartagena, Colombia, on Wednesday night and that a dispute ensued with one of the women over payment the following morning.

Secret Service Assistant Director Paul S. Morrissey said the agents had violated the service’s “zero-tolerance policy on personal misconduct” during their trip to prepare for President Obama’s arrival at an international summit this weekend.

“We regret any distraction from the Summit of the Americas this situation has caused,” Morrissey said in a statement.

The rapidly unfolding scandal has upstaged Obama’s trip to the summit, where he is discussing trade and the economy with 32 other heads of state. Though the agency has said Obama’s security was not compromised, the allegations of misconduct have brought intense scrutiny to an agency that had not had a major lapse since 2009, when two party crashers entered the White House uninvited.

The situation deteriorated further Saturday when the Defense Department announced that five military personnel, who are staying at the same hotel, violated curfew Wednesday night and have been confined to their rooms. The department will conduct its own investigation upon their return to the United States, said Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser of the U.S. Southern Command, where the military personnel were from.

Fraser said he was “disappointed by the entire incident and . . . this behavior is not in keeping with the professional standards expected of members of the United States military.”

Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said Saturday that Secret Service officials conducting an internal investigation told him that the staff at the Hotel Caribe summoned local police after discovering a woman in the room of one agent after 7 a.m., against the hotel’s policy for visitors of paying guests.

Although the agent eventually paid the woman and she left, King added, police reported the incident to the U.S. Embassy, which informed the Secret Service. The agency quickly recalled the agents and replaced them with a new team before Obama’s arrival Friday afternoon at the Hilton a few blocks away.

King praised the agency for removing the men involved, but he added that “everything they did was a violation of proper conduct.”

“First of all, to be getting involved with prostitutes in a foreign country can leave yourself vulnerable to blackmail and threats,” King said. “To be bringing prostitutes or almost anyone into a security zone when you’re supposed to protect the president is totally wrong.”

Briefing reporters in Cartagena, press secretary Jay Carney said the White House learned of the incident Thursday and Obama was informed Friday.

“This has not been a distraction,” Carney said. “It has been much more so for the press than for the president, who is going on with his work here.”

Story Continues: http://www.washingto...ztHT_story.html

2012-04-15

[Ulysses G.]

^{This is how absurd political correctness has gotten. A major international news story over some guy satisfying his biological needs for sex with another consenting adult.}

Edited April 15, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[kerryk]

From the Washington Post, “One person with close ties to the Secret Service, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about an ongoing investigation, said he was told by agents that the woman involved in the dispute “freaked out” after she was not paid and banged on walls and doors in the hotel hallways.”

Sounds pretty familiar to me. You gotta pay those ladies or the ladies get angry. Hell hath no fury like an upset hooker. And some people really think men take advantage of hookers? Heck, hookers are not even afraid of the might if the US Secret Service.

[Ulysses G.]

If the Secret Service guys got canned for not paying the hooker, rather than sleeping with her, I would be in favor.

Edited April 15, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[kerryk]

If the Secret Service guys got canned for not paying the hooker, rather than sleeping with her, I would be in favor.

Cops and preachers. Both have their place but I wouldn't trust them alone with a woman.

[Steely Dan]

I love the photo attached to the O.P article, it somehow seems most appropriate.

[Colin Yai]

I love the photo attached to the O.P article, it somehow seems most appropriate.

Yeah Dan The Donkey got the Hat for "services" rendered !

[kerryk]

We all know the donkey is Obama and the Democratic party right?

[zudithsun]

try putting your feet in other's shoe, you may get sore

Edited April 15, 2012 by zudithsun

[kerryk]

try putting your feet in other's shoe, you may get sore

Converting to baht these guys make a couple of million per year and

• Possess a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with superior academic achievement.
  
• Superior academic achievement is defined as meeting at least one of the following requirements:
  
• Being in the upper third of your graduating class
  
• Having a grade point average of 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0, based on four years of undergraduate education or based on courses completed during the final two years of curriculum
  
• Having a grade point average of 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0, based on required courses completed in your major or required courses in your major completed during the final two years of curriculum
  
• Being a member of a national scholastic honor society that meets the requirements of the Association of College Honor Societies
  

Or a bunch of other stuff. Another words they are not supposed to be dummies.

[siampolee]

In my view the action of taking these girls into their rooms by these agents constitutes a security breach.,

Pillow talk may well seem innocent however in the wrong ears pillow talk could result in a fatal outcome.

There are many examples of these sorts of situations and their outcome scattered throughout world history.

Does the name, ''Mata Hari,'' ring any bells ?

Edited April 15, 2012 by siampolee

[Scott]

Off-topic posts deleted.

Stay on the topic of the OP, which is about the Secret Service, not the US President.

[kerryk]

In my view the action of taking these girls into their rooms by these agents constitutes a security breach.,

Pillow talk may well seem innocent however in the wrong ears pillow talk could result in a fatal outcome.

There are many examples of these sorts of situations and their outcome scattered throughout world history.

Does the name, ''Mata Hari,'' ring any bells ?

From the Washington Post, "“First of all, to be getting involved with prostitutes in a foreign country can leave yourself vulnerable to blackmail and threats,” King (Homeland security) said. “To be bringing prostitutes or almost anyone into a security zone when you’re supposed to protect the president is totally wrong.”

Secret Service Assistant Director Paul S. Morrissey said the agents had violated the service’s “zero-tolerance policy on personal misconduct”

[TheWalkingMan]

The biggest crack up for me was reading some of the comments on yahoo. Many of the posters blamed Obama for this. lol

[midas]

^{This is how absurd political correctness has gotten. A major international news story over some guy satisfying his biological needs for sex with another consenting adult.}

you are missing the point. It is a major international news story because it is another in the same week that the GSA

was found wasting tax payers money on a junket in Las Vegas. if Obama wants big government surely at least

the employees should be seen to be behaving properly while on assignment at the taxpayers expense ?

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/apr/14/gsa-gifts-waste-taxpayer-money/

[Ulysses G.]

The agents were not paying the hookers with tax money. In fact they were not paying them at all. Maybe they should get some kind of award.

[Skywalker69]

In my view the action of taking these girls into their rooms by these agents constitutes a security breach.,

Pillow talk may well seem innocent however in the wrong ears pillow talk could result in a fatal outcome.

There are many examples of these sorts of situations and their outcome scattered throughout world history.

Does the name, ''Mata Hari,'' ring any bells ?

From the Washington Post, "“First of all, to be getting involved with prostitutes in a foreign country can leave yourself vulnerable to blackmail and threats,” King (Homeland security) said. “To be bringing prostitutes or almost anyone into a security zone when you’re supposed to protect the president is totally wrong.”

Secret Service Assistant Director Paul S. Morrissey said the agents had violated the service’s “zero-tolerance policy on personal misconduct”

That´s how it goes when you have your brain betveen your legs.

[AZBill]

Geez you'd think they'd know how to treat a hooker after working for all the whores and pimps in this administration!

[Payboy]

This would never have happened when Bubba was president. He always paid the bills.

[kerryk]

The agents were not paying the hookers with tax money. In fact they were not paying them at all. Maybe they should get some kind of award.

You know I mostly agree with you but how did they get to Columbia? Did they pay for the flight and the hotel rooms themselves?

[Ulysses G.]

The President was not there yet. Are Secret Security Agents on the job 24 hours a day?

[kerryk]

The President was not there yet. Are Secret Security Agents on the job 24 hours a day?

As representatives of the US government? Ya. 24/7 goes with the job.

[midas]

The President was not there yet. Are Secret Security Agents on the job 24 hours a day?

As representatives of the US government? Ya. 24/7 goes with the job.

.

yes indeed -there for the sole job of personally protecting the United States President at an international summit

which obviously entails pre arrival preparations.

[Exsexyman]

The biggest crack up for me was reading some of the comments on yahoo. Many of the posters blamed Obama for this. lol

Im sure there will be a few of the usual suspects on here who have never got over the fact that a black man is President, who will blame Obama. Hurricanes, tornados, all Obama's fault! All harking back to the days when the towering intellect that was G W Bush was President!

[Ulysses G.]

yes indeed -there for the sole job of personally protecting the United States President at an international summit

which obviously entails pre arrival preparations.

FYO it was not the President's personal security detail.

[Scott]

An off-topic, baiting post has been removed.

If you have nothing to say, then feel free NOT to post.

[Steely Dan]

The President was not there yet. Are Secret Security Agents on the job 24 hours a day?

As representatives of the US government? Ya. 24/7 goes with the job.

.

yes indeed -there for the sole job of personally protecting the United States President at an international summit

which obviously entails pre arrival preparations.

'Pre arrival preparations' - Now that could become a euphemism.

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been removed.

The topic is about the Secret Service Agents.

[elgato]

An off-topic post has been removed.

The topic is about the Secret Service Agents.

Nothing "secret" about the "service" of these agents.

[metisdead]

A post containing a possibly copyrighted photo has been removed.