Secret Service Under Scrutiny In Prostitution Scandal [News 15.04]
2:31 PM
Ahead
of a visit president Barack Obama took in Colombia, the Secret Service assigned
an unit to have everything ready in due time. But the Secret Service unit that
was assigned the Colombia presidential visit, apparently had other things in
mind, than manage official business. Now, members of the congress are having
the Secret Service unit under scrutiny in the prostitution scandal.
For
the institution itself, the Colombia prostitution scandal is a big image blow.
Congressman Peter King said that the Secret Service prostitution scandal
tarnishes its image and dismissed the misconduct incident to be an “aberration”.
However, other members of the Congress worry the Secret Service prostitution scandal
might be just the tip of the iceberg. “This kind of a breach is a breach in the
federal workforce’s most elite protective unit” said Republican Darrell Issa.
So
far, following the prostitution scandal, 11 members of the Secret Service unit
sent in Colombia have been placed on administrative leave. Another five U.S.
military members are now under investigation over suspicions they “may have
been involved in inappropriate conduct”.
But
investigators are still putting together pieces of the puzzle. Darrell Issa
told CBS’s Face the Nation that there might have been more Secret Service
members involved than the 11 already on administrative leave. But as Issa
added, the Congress’ investigation is looking at “how this happened and how
often has this happened before: Things like this don’t happen once if they didn’t
happen before”.
So,
what happened you ask?
Apparently
the Secret Service unit has been making a tradition to have “wheels-up parties”
whenever they had to travel overseas. Once the officials leave the area, the
unit celebrated with prostitutes. This time, as the president was set to arrive
at an international summit in Colombia this weekend, the Secret Service unit
brought prostitutes into their rooms in Hotel Caribe of Cartagena.
Everything
would still have remained unknown if it hadn’t been for a dispute with a woman
over payment. Employees from Hotel Caribe called the police after they stumbled
upon a woman in an agent’s room. The agent didn’t abide by the hotel’ guest
policy but the matter even if solved quickly, was reported by officers to the
U.S. Embassy. 11 members of the Secret Service members have been replaced.
Peter
King said: “First of all, to be getting involved with prostitutes in a foreign country
can leave yourself vulnerable to blackmail and threats. To be bringing
prostitutes or almost anyone into a security zone when you’re supposed to
protect the president is totally wrong”.
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