Report: Secret Service involved in second prostitution scandal

[shawn703]

Source: CNN

A day after U.S. lawmakers were briefed on an alleged prostitution scandal in Colombia involving Secret Service members, a report emerged Thursday of similar allegations, this time in El Salvador.

Seattle TV station KIRO, a CNN affiliate, cited an unnamed U.S. government contractor who worked extensively with the Secret Service advance team in San Salvador prior to President Barack Obama's trip there in March, 2011.

The source said he was with about a dozen Secret Service agents and a few U.S. military specialists at a strip club in the city a few days before Obama arrived, KIRO reported.

The men drank heavily at the club, and most of them paid extra for access to a VIP section where they were provided sexual favors in return for cash, the source told the station.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/26/politics/secret-service-scandal/

[obxhead]

1. I'll bet this never happened during any other Presidency.

[MADem]

7. Actually, I'll bet the custom became entrenched during the Bush years.

And I am honestly not saying that as a particular slam against Bush--there's plenty to slam him for without adding this shit to the mix.

The reason I say this is because he was an "early bird" after he stopped drinking (or stopped drinking regularly--some say). In any event he went to bed by ten. That left the offgoing shift plenty of time to go out and party and have some fun, because he wasn't going to be "on the move" and require them to be recalled to provide any kind of advance protection in the wee hours of the morning. He was a creature of habit, you could set your clock by him.

The guys protecting Clinton never knew if he'd want to sneak out -- they had to always be ready for anything, including a run to a fast food franchise if need be.

[obxhead]

11. It's probably always gone on.

While I have zero proof I would bet it really picked up during the Kennedy years.

[MADem]

12. I had (have, still, but he is retired) a cousin who worked for that bunch from LBJ through Bush One.

He is a choirboy. Really. I KNOW. He is the ultimate family man who calls home when he's on the road and talks for an hour or more, and would take his family with him if he could. I've met up with him while he was on details. I've met his associates. Very staid bunch--not partiers, they were very much into physical fitness and competitive intramurals. Not bars, barbells--those kinds of guys. This new bunch seems different and even looks different. That bozo leering at Palin does not look like he had the right stuff.

They were much more staid and unremarkable back in the day, I think. I think that post-JFK, they adopted that choirboy/always on duty mindset, because that was such a big FAIL to lose their principal like that.

I'm betting that the hires in the last couple of decades might not have quite so much of a sense of urgency. After all, your principal is in the hardest car in the land--it's not just armored, it has every bell and whistle going to protect the occupant--and the exposure times are so much smaller than they used to be back in the day.

You'd have thought there would have been a bit of a "seriousness re-set" after the Ford attempt and Reagan hit, but if there was, it doesn't seem to have been lasting.

[cstanleytech]

20. As much as I dislike the shrub I dont believe it became entrenched under his administration.

In fact I am willing to bet there have been agents since the secret service were first formed that were paying for sex.

[MADem]

21. There are always those in every outfit.

All I can tell you is that when my cousin was guarding a President, a First Lady, and a Presidential nominee, he and his coterie of Dudley Do-Rights weren't partiers. I even offered to take them out on the town a time or two--no sale. They'd rather go to the gym and have a nice meal, no painting the town red.

Perhaps it's a leadership issue.

[countryjake]

25. We thought the exact same thing!

This evening, after watching the more in-depth report on the matter from Chris Halsne of our local news, we both discussed that pretzel-choking prez and his possible "clean & sober" status, figuring that Laura (or Rove) probably locked him in his room as soon as the sun went down, just to be sure of no embarrassing incidents, which left all of those "protectors" sitting around twiddling their thumbs. Party hardy time!

That report tonight showed the reporter going up to an armed guard for the "hot spot" in San Salvador...saying that "Lips" specializes in "VIP clientele".


Source: Agents in El Salvador bragged to strippers they worked for Obama
http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/source-agents-el-salvador-bragged-strippers-they-w/nMjgK/

SEATTLE — "It's not the first time." That’s what our investigative reporter Chris Halsne said when presidential Secret Service agents got caught in Columbia this month hiring prostitutes.

We said, "Go prove it," and put him on a jet to El Salvador -- a place President Obama visited in March 2011.

Over the weekend, Halsne uncovered some stunning new information and witnesses that have congressional investigators seeking out what he knows. A strip club in San Salvador called "Lips" is about to become ground zero in the next Secret Service sex scandal. Even the owner of the enterprise, an American-born citizen named DJ Ertel, tells KIRO-TV's Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne that he’s surprised it took so long for somebody to tie President Obama's Secret Service advance-security team to his club.

Lips offers 40 strippers who get naked on three different stages. That’s not the only draw for men seeking a serious party atmosphere in El Salvador's capital city. The club has a reputation for armed security and the ability to provide discreet privacy to VIP clientele. That appears to make it the favorite hangout for U.S. government employees. Managers at Lips tell Halsne that DEA, FBI and U.S. Embassy staff are regulars here.

[nanabugg]

26. Divorce attorney's are having wet dreams. nt

[BeyondGeography]

2. Send a bunch of power-enabled horndogs on the road

for a week with not much to do.

I'm sure it was only twice...

[blm]

3. Official and corporate cultures have been doing this for centuries.

Women I knew in LA (aspiring actresses and models) made regular trips to Houston for Ken Lay and his pals in the 80s and 90s, one of those creeps became the governor of Texas in the 90s.

[Dawson Leery]

18. True.

[marshall gaines]

4. who cares

If I am correct, in 1963 Dallas, the night before the ?, the detail was in clubs drinking heavily ect:, so if the same situation is brewing? I hope the Prez has some loyal guns on his side. otherwise if it is just a breach of protocol, yes investigate, but who cares. If any one of them was stupid enough to divulge something they shouldn't have, they should be history. Otherwise who other than the Prez should care?

[former9thward]

5. I think JFK cared when he was shot.

So you don't care if the president gets shot? Well I do.

[marshall gaines]

8. no

no, I was not saying that! I am sorry I didn't make my point clearer for you.

[ChazII]

9. Agree 100%.

I also care if a president gets shot.

[Poll_Blind]

17. +1

These are the guys who make sure the president stays alive. They don't get to fuck off. Or rather, let them fuck off back in Maryland or wherever they live. Not in some foreign country where we need them to be on their A game all the time.

PB

[bemildred]

6. Gosh, this seems like sort of a security problem, eh? nt

[MADem]

10. The unstated likelihood is that every single agent who went out on a detail is getting the once-over

If any are escaping, they're the pencil pushers who have been on limited duty for a prolonged period due to accident or illness.

It's not like they are vetting the entire Armed Forces--they'll be able to get through that pile in short order, and I'm sure they're getting help doing those interviews from other governmental agencies.

[safeinOhio]

13. They could not allow any personal cash,

only government credit cards with all bills checked out on overseas trips.

[polichick]

14. Wasn't there something in Brazil too? (Thought I heard that on msnbc yesterday.)

[rury]

15. Yep, some Marines and a U.S. Embassy official allegedly assaulted a prostitute in Brazil

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jHLbDpYajXSGh4vVQrGWK8TL0jQw?docId=550247782173467ca1bc17c9fe6df292

[MADem]

22. That's horrid, but that's not Secret Service--that's a

couple of Embassy guards (USMC enlisted personnel) and a GS from the Embassy. All of whom can kiss their careers goodbye, which is a good thing.

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday three Marines on a U.S. Embassy security team and one embassy staff member were punished for allegedly pushing a prostitute out of a car in Brasilia late last year after a dispute over payment.
The incident is similar, but unrelated, to the scandal involving Secret Service agents at the Summit of Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, before President Barack Obama arrived for a visit.
Panetta, speaking to reporters in Brasilia, says the Marines were pulled out of the country. Two had their ranks reduced. The embassy staffer was removed from his post.
Panetta said he had "no tolerance for that kind of conduct."

[Beacool]

16. Not surprising.

Considering the amount of SS agents and military personnel who were caught in the scandal in Cartagena, it stands to reason that this was not an isolated incident. They (I don't necessarily mean the same people) have probably been doing it for years. The difference is that these men in particular were caught and the rest got away with it.

Maybe having more women in the SS would deter their frat boy mentality.

[MADem]

23. It's a leadership issue, I think.

Too many "good old boys" have come up in the system and now they're in charge. They're setting a horrible example.

[Beacool]

24. Yes, I agree.

It appears that these occurrences weren't that uncommon. It's probably been going on for a long time. It is not the image any administration wants to convey. They embarrassed the president and the country. It also undermined what Obama and Hillary were trying to achieve at the summit. Who mentions anything other than the SS's antics?

Disgraceful.

[BlueIris]

19. Our tax dollars at work.

Hey, Secret Service? You're supposed to be doing other things.