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Updated at 11 p.m. ET: A dozen Secret Service personnel 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.
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 officer 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 personnel at 12, the AP reported.
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Adler told the Post that the entire unit was recalled for the investigation. He later told the AP he had no specific knowledge of any wrongdoing.
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.
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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 personnel involved had been sent back to their permanent place of duty and were being replaced by other agency officers, 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.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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The f'n republicans will start up anything to make Obama look bad and get him out of office. Mitch McConnell is behind this i'd bet.
Republicans don't have to start anything.....Obama is perfectly capable of making himself look bad all on his own. In this case, it appears the SS has been strongly influenced by the overall cultural of this administration....as was all those with the GSA.
Yeah ceo, keep telling yourself that you sheep.
royalstar05 You are wrong! William Ayers and The Rev. Jeremiah Wright are 'behind this'!!
harley, you're a republican so you are always wrong. YOU'RE.
Wow...what a great come back, I'm devastated and without a retort. Ever think of taking that acerbic wit of yours to the Leno show?.....you dolt.
Without a retort? I guess you are the stupid one. You're as stupid as the picture.
The picture does it's job in two ways...first to illicit moronic comments from Obama sycophants like yourself, and two, to give you a sense of familiarity....because I can just imagine the imbecilic look on your face.
Wow, and people really want four more years of this B.S. Hard to imagine.
Ah yes.
This administration is the staunch defender of women and will not tolerate the exploitation of women.
Really???
Ho Ho Hoooooooos !!!!!!!, Oh well at least someone else getting Screwed instead of US Taxpayers , I feel so relieved
Whatever occurred with these so-called "Secret Service" men wasn't any accident. So, some of you, please spare me with "they're only human." Human my eye! Those men are well-trained and well-paid. They know better. Their actions were quite deliberate.
What their actions signal to any thinking person is that President Obama is in great danger. He simply does not have the protection that a United States President should have. And, to make matters even worse, they pull this off in a foreign country. Their actions sound like a "test run" for some greater plan that they can lay on "only being human".
People are posting jokes about this incident. There is nothing funny about this serious security breach. Those agents dropped the ball, the same as the agents who were supposed to be protecting President Kennedy dropped the ball that fateful morning in Dallas.
A bit of education on prostitution in Columbia from Wikipedia:
Prostitution in Colombia is legal as long as it is done in designated "tolerance zones". [1]
Prostitution is widespread and exacerbated by poverty and internal displacement. Domestically, organized crime networks, some related to illegal armed groups, are responsible for human trafficking for sexual exploitation and the armed conflict has made a large number of internal trafficking victims vulnerable.[1]
Child prostitution
It is estimated that there are 35,000 children working as prostitutes in Colombia with between 5,000 and 10,000 of them on the streets of Bogotá.[2]
A series of factors put children at risk for sexual exploitation in Colombia and leave them unprotected. The war and the drug trade have altered family structures that in ordinary times would have provided safety and nurture. The war has also caused the displacement of countless families, some of whose children have been soldiers in the war. Displaced children are particularly vulnerable to being prostituted, even more so in the declining economy [3].
A spokesman for the UN's children's fund, UNICEF, Karel de Rooy, said many child prostitutes were as young as nine years old and that clients were often middle-aged foreigners. He also said that the children were often addicted to drugs [2].
Commercial sexual exploitation of children is found especially in urban centers and in areas where there are large numbers of men who are separated from families due to work. Children are involved in commercial sexual exploitation either on the streets or in private establishments such as bars, brothels, or massage parlors. [4].
The culture of violence in Colombia had created a feeling of fear and resignation among the population; the violence had led to child prostitution and child gangs which added to the worsening situation of violence.
Colombia also is a destination for foreign child sex tourists, particularly coastal cities such as Cartagena and Barranquilla [5].
Human trafficking
Colombia is a major source country for women and girls trafficked to Latin America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, Asia, and North America, including the United States, for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Internally, women and children are trafficked from rural to urban areas for commercial sexual exploitation.
Continued armed violence in Colombia has displaced many communities, making them vulnerable to human trafficking. Groups at high risk for internal trafficking include displaced persons, poor women in rural areas, and relatives of members of criminal organizations.
Members of gangs and organized criminal networks force their relatives and acquaintances, and displaced persons – typically women and children – into conditions of forced prostitution. [5].
Many traffickers disclose the sexual nature of the work they offer but conceal information about working conditions, clientele, freedom of movement, and compensation. Others disguise their intent by portraying themselves as modeling agents, offering marriage brokerage services, providing study programs, or operating lottery or bingo scams with free trips as prizes [1].
Much ado about nothing. Provided minors are not involved. And these are not elected officials.
Keeping that in mind I believe in what the late U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, so instrumental in the rise of Conservatism in the 60's, said of philandering in D.C., as I recall he stated "If we threw every Congressman and Senator out for drinking booze and chasing women we would never be able to vote on a Bill much less write one".
It's responses like yours that highlights the real problem......a total ignorance of the consequences of the actions of these agents. These people are highly trained professionals with the responsibility of protecting the most important man on the face of the planet. They need to be beyond reproach and compromise. Every action they take needs to be measured....that's simply the way it is, by their choice. By allegedly consorting with prostitutes and engaging in reckless behavior, these agents have exposed themselves to numerous security risks....the most significant being blackmail, which in it's self puts the POTUS in extreme jeopardy. And for people not to recognize those risks and understand the ramifications...is just hard to believe.
This is just a typical example of U.S government employees abusing their positions. They all are a bunch of hypocrites. The U.S government is just totally corrupt. Sucks for them when they get caught. Give it time and they will lie about what happened.
Speaking of international trade, would this illicit conduct represent an export, from the United States, or is it a part of Columbia's new "services-based economy"?
Ahhhh, Globalization may be new, but human nature is eternal.
Everyone in America has been tricked by everything that revolves around the Obama administration. He definitely ties if not beats Carter as the worst President ever. Carter may be better because he accomplished more.
facebook (dot) com/photo (dot) php?fbid=2959874560514&set=a.1303210864957.2038085.1371037213&type=1&theater
rahter have a greedy president, than one that doesn't spread it around, at least i ate good and went where i wanted to go without worrying about gas prices and food prices, obama gives it back just to the rich. he has and going to the store proves obama doesn't care about American people, of course unless he can hope and change us to be socialist and communist, take your pick, i prefer American and the constitution.
Obama - stfu no one cares what Bush did or did not do anymore. Look ahead because if you keep looking behind you'll see someone might be gaining on you.
Gee, America Now, I must have missed the part where Obama started two wars and lead the nation into the worst recession in 30+ years.
As far as I'm concerned, he could do anything short of trading New Jersey to Russia for the most barren and useless part of Siberia and still be a better president than George W. Bush.
Let me be the first: It's Bush's Fault!!!
BO has more parties at the White House and how many vacations? Why can't the Secret Service join in the fun?
Your an idiot with that statement.
royalstar05 Idiot? That would be "you're" (not "your"). Idiot? I bet the best four years of your life was the third grade.
Harley = smartass. How come you had to ask if i'm an idiot you dumb$h!t? You dont ask, you tell them. Go back to the 2nd grade.
Well, royaltar05, I won't say you are an idiot. I will say that you write like one.
mr. harley, did not ask you, if you are an idiot, he corrected your sloppy use of language with a rhetorical question, strongly implying a limited mental capacity on your part.
But Jeanne-353194's remark is pretty brainless too. This story has nothing to do with the number of parties held in the White House, or the comparative number of vacations this President has taken versus any of his predecessors. The story only reports that one, and possibly more of the secret service staff protecting the President are alleged to have consorted with local prostitutes.
That is it. Young men consorting with prostitutes.
Hardly news.
dman, how stupid are you? He put a question mark in the sentence. That is ASKING. Learn how to read you dumb$h!t. My god you are dumb.
Royalstar05 - One thing true of almost all idiots, they have little idea just how stupid they really are.
How could they know?
Good to see you run true to form.
I want you to look the meaning of the expression, "rhetorical question", then get back to me.
Your mom [or is it you're mom] can help you with any big words.
Still riding the little bus to school, huh? [another rhetorical question].
You spelled my name royaltar05 before. I think i spell well enough. Maybe you should go back to school, you sure need it. See ya later idiot. BIG IDIOT.
Oooohhh! All that intellect focused on my poor self.
...he spotted that I misspelled his name ...after only 10 hours.
Very impressive.
Childish.
Well you would think an ss agent would wait til his day off before buying a hooker. Jesus save these people .
Hookers are some of the nicest women i've ever met, why would these guy's be punished?
There just keeping milk on the table,and shoes on the kids feet.
This whole thing is actually a major security breach. Standard protocol would dictate that the whole unit be sent back home. This is what they seem to have done.
The thing to note here is that these were part of the uniform division not the actual presidents detail.
Well, thanks for that inside knowledge.
I don't believe this lie my friend's son Is In the Secret Service and they don't like Obama. I'm thinking the real reason they were sent home was something someone said.
This is nothing compared to the GSA making videos, rapping, laughing all the way to the bank...wasting taxpayers' money on lavish outings to Hawaii/Vegas. I'm so ready to march on Washington.
"Put simply, we have one of the world's most dynamic trade relationships," Mr Obama plans to tell top executives on Saturday during the sixth Summit of the Americas.
Obviously the agents were just involved in the "dynamic trade relationship" that Mr Obama speaks of
obama is getting BJ's just like the former demo, sarkozy and obama needs to go, socialist crap heads.
so far obama has done nothing but ruin this country, foodstamp man, lets put him on food stamps, nobama in november
4 MORE YEARS> Obama EASY in 2012.
Secret service agents are charged with protecting the president.
Where he goes they go.
These guys were screwing prostitutes.
Therefore, so was the president.
It came out.
Guess what?
They go under the bus.
@nothingnew...
So, using your logic, explain how President John F Kennedy was assassinated and not a single secret service man died with him.
They were there.
Only one bullet was fired.
@nothingnew...
There was more than one bullet fired that morning. However, the real point is - your logic is flawed. Further, just as President Kennedy's secret service didn't protect him that fateful morning in Dallas, if it's true that President Obama's secret service team is carrying on as stated in the article, President Obama's secret service isn't protecting him either.
Your logic is flawed because there were no secret service agents in President Kennedy's car, not one. The two appointed to stand in a special compartment on the limousine's bumper were commanded by the lead agent to "stand down" moments before the president received the fatal shot.
Therefore, in that instance, the agents didn't go where the president goes. Hence, that one premise of your argument is false. If one of your premises is false, then your conclusion cannot be valid.
To all you Obama haters, lay off! I think you will see a ton of scandals coming out of the fedgov such as the social security and GSA. If he as head of the administrative branch had the power he should just like your republican corporate CEO's fire their asses but your congress won't let him have that power-it all has to go through the process which costs us taxpayers our first born son. So stop snake dancing around the warm body of Obama and give him the power to clean up the waste and corruption in the bureaucracy.
Wait until he assumes the power to take away things you think you have a right to and you'll be singing a different tune. Your vote is the only thing that matters to him, not you.
Would that be on his 4.4 million dollar vacation.
Typical liberal, progressive policies of the Obama administration....
more Americans getting screwed at taxpayers' expense!!
it wasn't american's getting screwed, hahahahahahahaha it was south americans. haha yep, must be why clinton and obama see eye to eye on things, BJ's for every demo here.
Less than 0.00000000001% of the agents on that trip. What's the big deal? This is what hope and change is all about, but we need to focus on what really matters. We have 47% of the suffering on food stamps and the worst economy since the Great Depression. It's time we talk about shared sacrifice, paying our secretaries the way Warren Buffett does and give every woman the right to free contraceptives, every child the right to a free education, every family the right to free housing and a free-range chicken in every pot. It is what our Founding Fathers would want from us.
THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA,..........for restoring The USA's reputation abroad.
I just don't get it......he is screwing the entire country but gets upset by a few girls trying to make a living.
I for one bevieve that if free contraceptives are being discussed, then I want free Viagra.
What does this comment have anything to do with this post? YOu have noticed how everyone rich is getting a handout? WHAT WHAT WHAT! YOu are a rambling fool. Go get a job loser!
Can't say that I blame them.
The Boss wasn't there yet and the girls in Columbia are pretty hot.