And Then There Were 12: The Growing Colombia Scandal
Posted by www.current-news.org on Jun 13, 2012 under UncategorizedThe recent expose of Secret Service agents reveling with prostitutes prior to President Obama arriving in Columbia for the Summit of the Americas continues to loom large, raising questions about the agency’s broader culture. What was once believed to be an isolated incident has blown into eight of the 12 Secret Service agents implicated in the scandal being fired. The military is also being investigated after allegations that 12 amongst their ranks had also hired prostitutes. An internal investigation has been completed, but thus far no military staff has been dismissed.I found some more information here.
Some Secret Service employees are disputing the charges, alleging that no rules were violated and that what is done during personal time is not relevant to positions within the agency. Those familiar with agency protocol have suggested that supervisors were aware that such off-duty cavorting was occurring but turned a blind eye to it.
Washington insiders have suggested that independent probes are necessary to determine how the agency has handled the revelations, as well as evaluate the well-being of the Secret Services wider culture. These probes would likely involve reviewing interview notes from nearly 200 agency employees who were in Columbia when the scandal broke in April 2012.