Thread: Several Secret Service agents relieved of duty ...

Secret Service agents sent home from Colombia, involvement with prostitutes allegedBy msnbc.com staff and news services

Updated at 11 p.m. ET: A dozen Secret Service agents providing security for President Barack Obama at an international summit in Cartagena, Colombia, have been relieved of duty because of allegations of misconduct.

The Associated Press said it received an anonymous tip that the misconduct involved prostitutes in Cartagena, site of the Summit of the Americas. A Secret Service spokesman did not dispute the allegation.

However, the Washington Post reported that Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, told the newspaper the accusations relate to at least one agent having involvement with prostitutes in Cartagena.

A U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and requested anonymity, put the number of agents at 12, the AP reported.

Adler told the Post that the entire unit was recalled for the investigation. The incident threatened to overshadow Obama's economic and trade agenda at the summit and embarrass the U.S. The White House had no comment.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan would not confirm that prostitution was involved, saying only that there had been "allegations of misconduct" made against Secret Service personnel in the Colombian port city hosting Obama and more than 30 world leaders. “The Secret Service takes all allegations of misconduct seriously,” Donovan told the Post.

Donovan said the allegations of misconduct were related to activity before the president's arrival on Friday night. Obama was attending a leaders' dinner Friday night at Cartagena's historic Spanish fortress.

The agents involved had been sent back to their permanent place of duty and were being replaced by other agency personnel, Donovan said. The matter was turned over to the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility, which handles the agency's internal affairs. "These personnel changes will not affect the comprehensive security plan that has been prepared in advance of the president's trip," Donovan said.

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news...s-alleged?lite

Something smells rotten here...

comments

Must of been holdovers from Clinton's administration. wakka wakka.

...

Not 'embarrass' the White House? lol.... just one more in a comedy of errors for this group.

...

Oh no.....ANOTHER fiasco Mr. Obama has to explain and contend with.

Shucks, there goes his "popularity poll" down the tubes again.

Maybe Mr. Obama could have CNN's Hilary Rosen or Mr. Edwhinester Shultz defend this action by the SS agents. Wait a minute, Mr. Obama doesn't like anyone to "question" his DNC representative's comments.


..

Naughty, naughty and...stupid, stupid.

..

These people are human. This could happen to any person in law enforcement, like their jobs aren't hard enough. I still have respect for the guys in the navy blue blazers. Not everyone who wants to work for the Secret Service gets too. What I don't understand is why do they send peons when they should send more experienced and those better trained?


US Secret Service agents sent home from Obama duty over misconduct allegations
By Olivier Knox ~ White House Correspondent – 1 hr 14 mins ago

An undisclosed number of Secret Service agents with President Barack Obama at an international summit in Colombia have been relieved of their assignments and face an investigation over alleged misconduct, a spokesman for the Secret Service said late Friday.

The Associated Press, citing an anonymous tip, reported that the allegations involved prostitutes in Cartagena, the city hosting the gathering. The AP also said 12 agents were involved. The Washington Post cited the president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Jon Adler, as saying that the allegations were tied to at least one agent being involved with prostitutes in Cartagena.

Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan declined to confirm that the conduct involved prostitutes. "There have been allegations of misconduct made against Secret Service personnel in Cartagena, Colombia prior to the President's trip. Because of this, those personnel are being relieved of their assignments, returned to their place of duty, and are being replaced by other Secret Service personnel. The Secret Service takes all allegations of misconduct seriously. This entire matter has been turned over to our Office of Professional Responsibility, which serves as the agency's internal affairs component," Donovan said in a statement sent to Yahoo News by email.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/u...024553474.html

commets

Something is REALLY wrong here, folks. Secret Service agents are SERIOUSLY vetted, psychologically tested, etc. For one, maybe. For an entire group? Either something went wrong and someone tampered with the process by which secret service agents are placed, or something even worse is happening. There is something seriously bad going on.

U.S. military staff face Colombia misconduct probe
By Tangi Quemener | AFP – 13 mins ago

A sex scandal involving Secret Service agents on US President Barack Obama's trip to Colombia widened when American soldiers on the trip were linked to the alleged use of prostitutes. Eleven members of the service, known for their robust handling of security for senior members of the US government, were relieved of their duties and sent home following allegations of misconduct in the resort city of Cartagena.

Five US military personnel are also being investigated for behavior said to have taken place at the same hotel where the Secret Service staff were staying, and they have been taken off duty and confined to barracks. Obama arrived late Friday in the Caribbean port of Cartagena, under security lockdown for the Summit of the Americas, but the allegations against the Secret Service and military completely overshadowed the gathering of regional leaders.

The misconduct claims were made on Thursday against the Secret Service personnel, who included both special agents and uniformed division officers, though none of them was assigned to Obama's personal security detail. Secret Service Assistant Director Paul Morrissey said "the nature of the allegations, coupled with a zero tolerance policy on personal misconduct," led to the "decisive action to relieve these individuals of their assignment."

Having been sent home, the personnel involved were taken to the service's Washington headquarters for interviews on Saturday as the agency's internal affairs division investigates the matter. "As a result, all 11 employees have been placed on administrative leave. This is standard procedure and allows us the opportunity to conduct a full, thorough and fair investigation into the allegations," Morrissey said.

The Washington Post, quoting Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, reported that at least one agent had been involved with prostitutes in Cartagena. Ronald Kessler, a former Post reporter and author of a book on the Secret Service, told CNN the scandal erupted when one of the agents "did not pay one of the prostitutes, and she complained to the police."

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Saturday told reporters that Obama had full confidence in the Secret Service. Shortly after, a statement released by the US military's Southern Command, tasked with planning and operations in Central and Southern America, said five of its staff had been linked to the misconduct claims in Cartagena. Its commander, General Douglas Fraser, was quoted to be "disappointed by the entire incident and that this behavior is not in keeping with the professional standards expected of members of the United States military."

He went on to say that "after a thorough investigation, punishment, if appropriate, will take place," in accordance with military justice.

The revelations came as two small bombs exploded in the capital Bogota, near the US embassy, and another two in Cartagena, though no one was hurt and there was no damage. The Secret Service, which employs some 3,200 agents and 1,300 uniformed police, has been in the spotlight for a number of notable incidents since Obama took office three years ago.

In late 2009 investigations were launched after an uninvited couple -- both aspiring reality TV stars -- gatecrashed Obama's first state dinner at the White House, gaining access to the party and even getting photographed with the president. The couple from Virginia, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, made headlines after attending the early part of the dinner honoring visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh despite lacking an invitation or Secret Service clearance.

In November last year an agent was charged with second-degree murder after an incident in Hawaii in November ahead of an APEC summit, The Washington Post reported, while another was charged with drunk driving last August while helping to arrange security for an Obama bus-trip in Iowa. The Secret Service was created in 1865 to tackle currency counterfeiting, but it gained an expanded role to protect the president in 1901 after the assassination of president William McKinley. Its services were extended to presidential candidates after Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-secret-a...094337856.html

How Secret Service sex scandal erupted
Bill Dispute Alerted Hotel to Secret Service and Prostitutes Cavorting, WH Official Says
By Jake Tapper | ABC OTUS News – 20 hrs ago

A senior administration official briefed on the accusations against the Secret Service agents pulled from duty in Colombia tells ABC News that a heated argument between at least one of the alleged prostitutes and at least one of the Secret Service agents first alerted authorities of the Hotel Caribe in Cartagena to the cavorting between Secret Service agents and prostitutes.

The argument was a dispute over the bill for services rendered, the administration official said.

Hotel Caribe authorities went to investigate the ruckus and learned that there had been some activity between Secret Service agents and prostitutes, the senior administration official said.

Hotel authorities then went down to the reception desk to see who else of the American guests may have signed in female guests - call girls - for the evening.

Initially, this official said, that inspection led the hotel authorities to have questions about 22 Americans - 17 Secret Service agents and five special operations soldiers who were there to assist the Secret Service. Their names were reported to the lead U.S. military official on the ground.

That is not to say that all 22 men had hired prostitutes, the administration official underlined. Some of those about whom the hotel raised questions may merely have been attending a party and violating curfew. Eleven Secret Service agents have been sent back to the United States. The five U.S. special forces members remain in Colombia, per the request of the Secret Service.

The State Department says that adult prostitution is legal in designated "tolerance zones" in Colombia, though restricting the sex trade to those zones has been difficult. "Sexual tourism" is reportedly widespread in Cartagena and other coastal cities.

http://news.yahoo.com/bill-dispute-a...-politics.html

comments

So, were they legal transactions or not? If so, then what's the big deal? If not, then why aren't they being prosecuted in Colombia where they broke the law? None of this makes any sense. Out.

..

They had a curfew too?

..

The agent shold have paid the tab and put it on his expense account. Hasn't this guy learned anything from the politicians?

..

would this be considered Foreign Aid?

..

Trying to swindle working women out of their hard earn pay is as low as one can get . If this were the Bush Administration it would be touted as part of the GOP's "War on Women" ....

...

How are they going to respond to a potential employer when asked, "Why did you leave your previous employer?"

..

But lying, stealing, embarrassing the country, cheating, and otherwise being scumbags is what politicians get paid for, not the Secret Service.

..

Revoke their security clearances and fire them. The issue isn't morals, being on or off duty- but being a possible breach of national security. Also of being stupid-

White House press secretary Josh Earnest tries to put out hooker scandal fire, burns self instead

Posted at 12:30 am on October 9, 2014

http://twitchy.com/2014/10/09/white-...-self-instead/

Secret Service Agents Try to Enter a Man’s House with a FAKE Search Warrant

October 16, 2014 By Greg Campbell

There is a legal method by which law enforcement can barge into our homes; it is called a search warrant. We, as Americans, do not have an absolute right to privacy in all instances; law enforcement officers must go to a judge and demonstrate probable cause in order to intrude upon a private citizen’s life and home. When that burden has been met, police may proceed.

It’s a simple concept with many nuances. However, what police aren’t allowed to do is enter a premises without permission from the occupant or the judicial branch. And they sure as heck aren’t allowed to fake a search warrant.

However, that is, reportedly, exactly what the Secret Service sought to do in Nashville, Tennessee.

According to Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson, Secret Service agents were recently thwarted in an attempt to enter the house of a man suspected of making inappropriate comments online about President Obama. When the man knew his rights and refused the agents entry, they turned to the police chief and asked him to fake a search warrant.

When Secret Service agents working out of the Nashville office asked to enter the premises of a man accused of making inappropriate comments online about Barack Obama, the man refused and slammed the door in his face. The agents then called local law enforcement for back-up. The Nashville Police arrived and informed the agents that the man inside, who may or may not have been armed, is a registered gun owner, had not broken any laws, and that they would need a search warrant to investigate inside the house.

According to Chief Anderson in a scathing letter to the House Committee on Oversight, “one of the agents then asked a [Nashville police] sergeant to ‘wave a piece of paper’ in an apparent effort to dupe the resident into thinking that they indeed had a warrant.”

Apparently, Nashville’s finest takes their oaths seriously and plainly refused to do anything of the sort.

However, Chief Anderson demanded accountability. He contacted then-Secret Service Director Julia Pierson and Assistant Director A.T. Smith in order to get answers. Pierson never got back to him and Smith offered a snide tone and told Anderson to, essentially, mind his own business.

Chief Anderson then went to the Secret Service office and demanded answers. In his letter to the House Committee, Anderson writes, https://www.documentcloud.org/docume...t-service.html

“Certainly, nothing was resolved in our meeting. The supervisor made it clear that my complaint was not well received. Seeing that was not going to receive any assurance that similar conduct would not occur again in the future, I asked the following questions:

Do you think it is appropriate to wave a piece of paper in the air and tell him you have a warrant when you do not have a warrant?

Answer: ‘Don’t know. l’m not a lawyer.’

If it is a good idea to wave the paper in the air and tell him it is a warrant, why didn’t your agent do it instead of directing a Metropolitan Nashville police officer to wave the paper?

Answer: ‘Wasn’t there. You will have to ask him.’”

These reports are simply outrageous and indicative of the kind of attitude that has become commonplace within the federal law enforcement environment.

As the NSA, the IRS and the CIA continue to tap, bug, investigate and harass any citizens they want for a wide variety of obscene reasons, it seems clear why trust in the federal government has plunged so low.

If there is to be any silver lining in this story, it is that it serves as a refreshing reminder that while so many police officers and federal agents feel that it is acceptable to betray their oaths to protect and serve, there remains dedicated officers to whom their oaths are a bond.



http://www.tpnn.com/2014/10/16/video...earch-warrant/