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Gov. agents brought at least 20 women to hotels in Colombia: Pol
Photo credit: Secret Service agents reportedly stayed at the Hotel Caribe before being sent home (Getty)
Secret service agents and U.S. military personnel brought at least 20 women back to a beachfront Colombia hotel last week in an incident involving alleged misconduct with prostitutes, Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday.
"There are 11 agents involved. Twenty or 21 women foreign nationals were brought to the hotel, but allegedly Marines were involved with the rest," Collins said in an email after being briefed by Secret Service director Mark Sullivan.
Collins (R-Maine) is the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which shares jurisdiction over the Secret Service with the Judiciary Committee.
The 11 agents — two of whom are reportedly supervisors — were placed on administrative leave, the Secret Service said. Their top security clearances were revoked.
While partying at a club in Cartagena, the agents reportedly boasted that they worked for President Barack Obama and were there to protect him. The incident came to light after an alleged dispute between an agent and one of the prostitutes.
NBC News reported that there was a possibility that some of the agents may have had copies of Obama’s schedule in the hotel rooms visited by the women, though a Secret Service source disputed that, telling Reuters: “That kind of stuff is not kept in rooms.”
The White House said Tuesday that Obama still “has confidence” in the Secret Service and its director.
“The director acted swiftly in response to this incident and is overseeing an investigation,” spokesman Jay Carney, told reporters, adding that Obama “feels very strongly that the work the Secret Service does, the men and women who protect him and his family ... is exemplary, as a rule.”
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