Just a week after a prostitution scandal in Cartagena, Colombia involving three U.S Secret Service agents went viral, government officials announced today that the agent would be dismissed from their positions in the Service.
These agents
were accompanying President Barack Obama at an international summit meeting
when this rendezvous occurred.
The director of the U.S Secret Service, Mark Sullivan, stated that one employee will retire, another will resign and the third will be fired. Two of the agents were supervisors.
Due to the attention given to this incident, the Secret Service has reevaluated its internal investigation of personnel that accompany government officials on trips. To date, they have not come across anything resembling the incident in Colombia.
Apparently,
there was a misunderstanding between an escort and a Secret Service agent over
the amount of money owed for her service.
The
24-year-old single mother, who preferred to be nameless, asked the agent she
escorted for $800, but was only paid $30. Upon notifying a hotel security
officer of the rip off, the woman lowered her demand to $250, the amount that
was owed to her fixer. The U.S agents, in an effort to resolve the matter
without further attention, gave her both U.S and local currency worth about
$225.
"They never
told me they were with Obama," she said, adding that the men were very discreet
about their identities.
"Some of [
the agents] were saying they didn't know they were prostitutes," said Chair of
the Committee of Homeland Security, Peter T. King. "Some are saying they were women at the bar. I
understand that there was quite a bit of drinking."
King stated that the woman's story matches what he has been told. Nevertheless, an investigation is still being carried out to confirm all facts.
"You have a rank," said the Colombian woman to The New York Times, dismissing the title of prostitute. "An escort is someone who a man can take to dinner. She can dress nicely, wears nice makeup, speaks and act like a lady. That's me."
According to
officials, 11 individuals were ordered to return to the U.S and are being
questioned about their involvement in the incident. The agent said to be fired
threatens to sue.