US Secret Service Agent’s Columbian Prostitute Begged For Hours To Be Paid – Agent Offered $27 After Receiving $800 In Services – Ending Up Paying Just $250 After Police Were Involved, Stiffing His Whore Out Of $550

WASHINGTON, DC – One of the Colombian prostitutes involved in a sex scandal with US Secret Service agents broke her silence Friday to tell how she had begged for hours to be paid $800 for her services.

“I told him, there’s a problem here. Because if I had come with you to enjoy myself that would have been one thing. But I didn’t come to enjoy myself,” Dania Londono told Caracol Television and W radio. “I had to beg from 6:30 am to 10:00am for him to pay me.”

Londono told the television she had met the men when she was in a bar in Cartagena, Colombia, with three of her friends.

They drank two bottles of vodka with the men and danced and then they agreed to go back to their hotel rooms, but Londono insisted she had asked the man she was with to give her an $800 “gift” in return.

“We danced and when we left I said, ‘Well, love, you have to give me $800, that is the gift I want to go with you,'” she noted. “He said, ‘Okay, baby. Let’s go to the hotel.’

“Neither my friend nor I were aware that they were agents of Obama at all.”

She said the next morning when she asked for her money, he swore at her and offered her 50,000 pesos ($27) for a taxi fare. Eventually with the intervention of a local police officer, who was guarding the hotel corridor, she accepted $250.

The Secret Service has been scrambling to contain the scandal that originated in Colombia in mid-April when US President Barack Obama was visiting to attend the Summit of the Americas.

More than two dozen Secret Service agents and military personnel were sent home from Cartagena where they had been preparing security for Obama’s visit.

They were accused of drinking heavily, visiting a strip club and consorting with prostitutes, including bringing sex workers to their hotel rooms.

Eight agents have since been dismissed, the security clearance of one other has been permanently revoked, and three others have been cleared of major misconduct, according to the agency.

Investigations into the actions by the agents and some 12 military personnel are ongoing.

Londono dismissed the agents as “a bunch of fools… They are responsible for Obama’s security and they still let this happen… I could have done a thousand other things,” she said, according to a transcript on CNN.

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3 Of 12 Secret Service Agents Initially Investigated In Columbian Prostitution Scandal Refused Polygraph Tests, Got The Boot

WASHINGTON, DC – Three of the 12 Secret Service agents involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal refused to cooperate with authorities and submit to a polygraph test, according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-New York.

The three agents were among the first forced out of the service when news of the scandal in Cartagena broke, King told CNN late Tuesday. The nine remaining agents took the polygraph. And while none of them failed the test, some responses led to the loss of several jobs.

King received the information as a part of a response to 50 questions he sent to Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan on April 20. Sullivan submitted his answers to King on Tuesday.

While King did not send CNN copies of the responses — which he said are marked “law enforcement sensitive” — he highlighted several details.

Among other things, one agent said in the polygraph test that he was “actively engaged” with one of the prostitutes when he said she wanted to get paid, King said. In response, the agent threw her out of his room.

The agent told U.S. officials he didn’t realize the woman was a prostitute, and has not been fired.

U.S. officials have now interviewed 10 of the 12 women involved in the scandal, King noted. The Secret Service and Colombian authorities are currently trying to track down the remaining two.

King stressed what he called a “pleasant surprise” — Sullivan’s decision to call the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general before bringing the agents back from Colombia.

King said there weren’t many surprises in the responses to his questionnaire.

“Sullivan was giving us good information all along,” he told CNN.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and Rep. Elijah Cummings, the panel’s ranking Democrat, have submitted another 10 questions to Sullivan, including a precise time line of exactly what happened in Cartagena.

The pair also sent a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta requesting details of a military investigation by May 8.

In their correspondence to Panetta, Issa and Cummings said security personnel showed an “alarming lack” of “character” and “judgment.”

The Homeland Security Department’s inspector general is currently investigating the scandal, in addition to four congressional committees as well as internal reviews by the agency, the military and the White House.

The top legislators on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said earlier Tuesday they’ve also sent a letter to Sullivan asking for information on the incident. A total of nine agents have resigned or are in the process of being forced out.

Three other Secret Service agents were cleared of serious misconduct, and the military is investigating the alleged involvement of 12 of its service members.

On Monday, the Homeland Security official announced his separate investigation of the incident, which embarrassed the government and raised questions of a possible security breach before President Barack Obama arrived for the Summit of the Americas.

The “field work is beginning immediately,” acting Inspector General Charles Edwards said in a statement.

The Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about the controversy at a hearing last week. On Tuesday, Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and ranking Republican Sen. Susan Collins said they sent Sullivan a letter Monday that also sought answers about what happened.

“We wish to determine whether those events were indicative of a pattern of behavior by agents or officers of the Secret Service, and need to be addressed systemically, or if they instead constituted an isolated incident warranting action only with respect to the individuals involved,” said the letter from Lieberman and Collins.

The U.S. Southern Command expects to finish questioning the 12 military personnel implicated in possible wrongdoing this week before forwarding its findings to military lawyers for review, and then to Gen. Douglas Fraser, commanding general of the U.S. Southern Command, a Defense Department official said Monday.

Last week, the Secret Service distributed new rules for its agents on assignment intended to prevent a repeat of such alleged misconduct, according to two government sources familiar with the resulting investigation.

Enhanced Standards of Conduct, the new guidelines given to all Secret Service personnel, make clear that standards of behavior required in the United States apply on missions abroad, the sources said.

Effective immediately, the new standards require detailed briefings before each trip that will include safety precautions and any necessary designations of establishments and areas that are “off limits” for Secret Service personnel, the sources said.

Also in the new standards, foreigners are banned from Secret Service hotel rooms at all times, except for hotel staff and host nation law enforcement and government officials on official business, according to the officials, and all Secret Service personnel are prohibited from going to a “nonreputable establishment.”

The new standards specify that U.S. laws apply to Secret Service personnel when traveling, rendering invalid the excuse that specific activity is legal in the foreign country, the officials said.

In addition, the new guidelines allow moderate alcohol consumption when off duty, but prohibit alcohol consumption within 10 hours of reporting for duty or at any time when at the hotel where the protected official is staying, the officials explained.

An additional supervisor from the Office of Professional Responsibility will now accompany the “jump teams” that bring vehicles for motorcades and other transportation, the officials said. Agents involved in the Colombia incident were part of such a jump team.

Allegations of further transgressions by agents have emerged after the initial reports of heavy drinking and consorting with prostitutes last month before Obama arrived in Cartagena.

Recent claims include an account from El Salvador described by CNN affiliate Seatte TV station KIRO as very similar to the Colombia scandal, involving members of the Secret Service and other government agencies.

However, Panetta said last week that his department is not investigating any of its troops over the reported incident in El Salvador, while State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said embassy staff in El Salvador were being questioned about the allegations

The Drug Enforcement Administration also is prepared to look into, “in an appropriate manner and immediately,” allegations that it deems “credible” regarding its agents in El Salvador, agency spokesman Rusty Payne said. But he added that, while the DEA had seen news reports, “we are unaware of any allegations of misconduct.”

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Secret Service Agents Dropping Like Flies In Columbian Prostitution Scandal Investigation – Three More Down

WASHINGTON, DC – Two more Secret Service employees are leaving the agency over the Colombia prostitution scandal,while a third is appealing his planned removal, the Secret Service announced tonight.

The agency also said that two other employees have been cleared of wrongdoing, “and will face appropriate administrative action.”

In a statement, Assistant Director Paul S. Morrissey said two employees resigned, while “the Secret Service is moving to permanently revoke the security clearance of one other individual.

“The Federal Security Clearance process allows for an appeal associated with any permanent revocation,”‘ Morrissey said. “If the security clearance action is upheld, and the clearance is permanently revoked, this individual must separate from the Secret Service.”

That brings to nine the number of Secret Service officials who have resigned, retired, or been fired over allegations of bringing prostitutes to hotel rooms in Cartagena, Colombia.

The actions now account for all 12 agents initially implicated in the prostitution scandal. But U.S.Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said “the entire investigation is not over.”

King’s committee has requested detailed information about the Secret Service’s operation in Cartagena.

Up to a dozen members of the military also face discipline over the incident that took place just two days before President Obama arrived for the Summit of the Americans, April 13-15.

Today’s announcement came shortly after Obama defended the Secret Service, saying that the “knuckleheads” implicated in the scandal shouldn’t discredit the entire agency.

“The Secret Service, these guys are incredible,” Mr. Obama told talk show host Jimmy Fallon. “They protect me, they protect our girls — a couple of knuckleheads shouldn’t detract from that they do.”

Of the incident in Colombia, Obama said: “What they were thinking, I don’t know. That’s why they’re not there anymore.”

The Secret Service has investigated 12 of its employees over the incident.

Before today, six men had either resigned, retired, or been fired. Another has been cleared of serious wrongdoing, but faces administrative action.

Said Morrissey: “The Secret Service is committed to conducting a full, thorough and fair investigation in this matter, and will not hesitate to take appropriate action should any additional information come to light.”

Today’s announcement:

“The Secret Service’s investigation into allegations of misconduct by its employees in Cartagena, Colombia continues.

The Secret Service is prepared to announce actions regarding the remaining five employees of the twelve who were initially identified in this investigation.

To date, six employees have either resigned or left the agency, and a seventh has been cleared of serious misconduct, and will face appropriate administrative action. In addition to those actions:

— Two additional employees involved have been cleared of serious misconduct, and will face appropriate administrative action.

— Two more employees have chosen to resign.

— The Secret Service is moving to permanently revoke the security clearance of one other individual. The Federal Security Clearance process allows for an appeal associated with any permanent revocation. If the security clearance action is upheld, and the clearance is permanently revoked, this individual must separate from the Secret Service.

At this point, all twelve have either been cleared of serious misconduct, resigned, retired, been notified of personnel actions to permanently revoke their security clearances, or have been proposed for permanent removal for cause. The Secret Service is committed to conducting a full, thorough and fair investigation in this matter, and will not hesitate to take appropriate action should any additional information come to light.”

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Investigation Into US Secret Service Agents And Armed Services Members Use Of Whores In Columbia To Cost US Taxpayers At Least $1.6 Million

WASHINGTON, DC – The sex scandal involving call girls and President Obama’s bodyguards will cost US taxpayers the equivalent of £1 million, it was revealed last night.

A team of US investigators flew to Cartagena, Colombia, to launch a sweeping probe that has already cost tens of thousands of dollars.

The team is investigating allegations that a dozen US Secret Service agents and 11 military security men cavorted with as many as 20 prostitutes while they were preparing for the President to attend a trade summit last weekend.
Controversy: Bikini-clad working girl Dania Suarez is at the centre of the Secret Service prostitution scandal

Controversy: Bikini-clad working girl Dania Suarez is at the centre of the Secret Service prostitution scandal

One of the two Colombian women at the centre of the furore, which has so far cost six bodyguards their jobs, broke down in tears when she gave her account of the weekend.

Maria Camila, 22, who describes herself as a student, insisted that she is not a prostitute and was not paid by the bodyguard, who was staying at a beachfront resort, the Hotel Caribe.

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‘I didn’t talk with him about money,’ said Miss Camila. ‘My guy never touched me. He never gave me a kiss or anything.’

She said she struck up a conversation with 24-year-old Dania Suarez, who was with another Obama agent at a Cartagena disco. After ordering two bottles of vodka, the man agreed to pay Dania for sex, Miss Camila said.

Scandal: She admitted going back to the hotel with a second agent for what she described as ‘a platonic evening’

Scandal: She admitted going back to the hotel with a second agent for what she described as ‘a platonic evening’

She admitted going back to the hotel with a second agent for what she described as ‘a platonic evening’.

The next morning, a row erupted in the hotel corridors after Miss Suarez shouted that she was supposed to receive £500 for her services, including a pack of condoms. The agent paid her only £20, she claimed.

It is said Miss Suarez has admitted she was working as a prostitute to earn money for her nine-year-old son and a course at beauty school.

Experts have told The Mail on Sunday that the inquiry began because of fears that the two women may have been part of a large ring of prostitutes with ties to ‘terrorists’ attempting to infiltrate and sabotage President Obama’s security.

‘The lowest price tag for the investigation will be well over $1.6 million [£1 million],’ a Washington insider said.

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Supervisors In Secret Service Columbian WhoreGate Scandal Identified

WASHINGTON, DC – One of the Secret Service supervisors who was forced out of the agency this week for his involvement in the Colombia prostitution scandal made light of his official protective work on his Facebook page, joking about a picture of himself standing watch behind Sarah Palin.

David Randall Chaney, 48, posted several action shots of himself on duty in a dark suit and sunglasses, including one that shows him behind the former Republican vice presidential nominee during her 2008 campaign.

“I was really checking her out, if you know what i mean?” Chaney wrote in the comments section, after friends had marveled at the photo. He is married and has an adult son.

Chaney, who had been a supervisor in the Secret Service’s international programs division, retired under pressure Wednesday, according to people familiar with an internal agency investigation into the allegations that 11 agents and uniformed officers had participated in a night of carousing April 11 ahead of President Obama’s visit to the Summit of the Americas.

He was one of two senior supervisors who are accused in the scandal, which investigators believe included heavy drinking, visits to a strip club and payments to women working as prostitutes. Several people familiar with the matter have identified the other supervisor as Greg Stokes, who was assistant special agent in charge of the K9 division. Stokes has been notified by agency officials that he will be fired, though he will be given an opportunity to contest the charges, those with knowledge of the case said.

The disclosure that two high-level managers were involved in the misconduct has raised questions of accountability and personal conduct in an agency whose top leadership has insisted that the Cartagena incident is an isolated and aberrant case, not a sign of a deeper cultural problem within the institution.

Chaney and Stokes have each worked at the Secret Service for nearly two decades, and both have served significant time with the presidential protection detail, people who know the men said. Both are based in Washington.

The supervisors were sent on the trip to supervise dozens of younger, less experienced agents who were part of the advance team preparing for Obama’s arrival.

Lawrence Berger, the general counsel for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association and an attorney for Chaney and Stokes, declined to comment on details of the allegations involving his clients. He said the agency’s investigation is not complete for either man and stressed that any judgment about their roles in the scandal is “premature.”

“Its our ultimate position that nothing they may or may not have done in Colombia negatively impacted the efficiency of their mission,” Berger said. “Nothing that has been reported to have been done has impacted negatively their mission or the president’s visit.”

Capitol Hill lawmakers who have been briefed on the matter have said 21 men are suspected of bringing as many as 21 prostitutes to their rooms. Ten military members also have been accused of participating, along with the 11 Secret Service personnel.

The incident became public after one man got into a dispute over payment with a woman on the morning of April 12, drawing the attention of hotel staff and Colombian authorities who reported the matter to the U.S. Embassy.

The Secret Service recalled its 11 employees and replaced them with another team before Obama arrived April 13. All were placed on administrative leave and had their top-secret security clearances revoked.

The Secret Service announced Wednesday that three of the men were leaving the agency. The third man is a junior member of the team who has elected to voluntarily resign, those familiar with the investigation said.

Berger did not answer questions about his clients’ employment status.

“They have a passion for the agency’s mission,” he said. “They’ve both been doing it for over 17 or 18 years, day in and day out, and very well.”

On Thursday, Capitol Hill lawmakers who oversee the Homeland Security Department said they expected more resignations and firings in the case. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the 11 agents involved in the scandal had undergone drug tests and polygraph exams. Agency investigators in Colombia have visited all of the hotels where Secret Service personnel stayed and have interviewed each of the maids who cleaned rooms in the Hotel Caribe, King said.

People who know the two supervisors have described Chaney’s duties in the international programs division as supervising a department that provides support and administrative help to the Service’s foreign offices. Stokes has been described as the assistant special agent in charge of the K9 training division at the James J. Rowley Training Center in Beltsville.

Attempts to reach both men were unsuccessful. Calls made to Chaney’s home and cell phone and to Stokes’ home were not returned. No one answered the door when a reporter visited Chaney’s home in Northern Virginia. Outside , a silver 4×4 Ford pickup was parked, bearing stickers with a colorful outline of Texas, Chaney’s home state, and the word “SECEDE”.

A relative of Chaney’s said she would relay a message to him.

The commitment to the Secret Service runs deep in Chaney’s family. His father, George Washington Chaney, was a Secret Service agent in President Kennedy’s era, and knew the agents on his detail when Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

The elder Chaney had remarked to friends that he started at the service working “diaper duty,” where he watched President Dwight Eisenhower’s children and grandchildren in Gettysburg, Pa., and also met his wife. Later, he travelled to work in Dallas, where he was on President Lyndon Johnson’s protective detail. He also served a stint in the service’s El Paso office, and then became the agent in charge of personnel in the Washington D.C. headquarters, where he was working when Kennedy was shot.

He retired in 1977, and started a new line of work as a document examiner in Dallas, where he and his wife “Toddie” raised their five children.

On the younger Chaney’s Facebook page, he posted several action shots of himself with Palin.

In one picture, he is wearing a dark suit and sunglasses, standing near a black vehicle behind Palin as she approaches a crowd. In the comments section next to the photo, a friend remarked that Chaney appeared to be “lurking in the shadows” behind Palin.

Another kidded that there seemed to be “real chemistry” between the two.

Chaney posted : “I was really checking her out, if you know what i mean?”

Another friend asked if one of the buttons on Palin’s lapel was emblazoned with Chaney’s face.

“well if it was could you blame her, anything to satisfy a stalker,” Chaney wrote in his reply.

In another set of Facebook photos, Chaney documents a trip he took with his grown son to Egypt. One photo shows a voluptuous bellydancer in a revealing bikini-like top and tight, sequined skirt positioned between him and his son.

“Not in front of my son,” Chaney joked in the comments section.

One current agent, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation, said both Chaney and Stokes were respected, well-liked agents and supervisors, who were both quick to offer advice and mentor younger agents and officers.

“I was just completely shocked to hear they were involved,” the agent said.

Staff writer Ed O’Keefe and researchers Alice Crites and Lucy Shackelford contributed to this report.

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Photos Surface Of Columbian Whore Involved In Secret Service Scandal – One Of As Many As 21 Prostitutes Hired By Agents

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More US Military Personnel May Have Been Involved In Misconduct With Whores In Columbia – 11 US Secret Service Agents Suspended

WASHINGTON, DC – A probe into the alleged misconduct of nearly a dozen U.S. Secret Service agents has expanded to include more than five military personnel, Defense Department officials said Monday, as the scandal that erupted during President Obama’s trip to Colombia last week put high-level officials on the defensive.

A preliminary investigation by the Defense Department, which included a review of video from hotel security cameras, found that more military personnel than initially thought might have been involved with the Secret Service in the carousing at the center of the probe. Already, 11 Secret Service agents have been placed on leave amid allegations they entertained prostitutes, potentially one of the most serious lapses at the organization in years.

The charges are triggering scrutiny of the culture of the Secret Service — where married agents have been heard to joke during aircraft takeoff that their motto is “wheels up, rings off” — and raising new questions at both the agency and the Pentagon about institutional oversight at the highest levels of the president’s security apparatus.

“We are embarrassed,” Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in a briefing at the Pentagon. “We let the boss down, because nobody is talking about what went down in Colombia other than this incident.”

At the same time, details emerged about the night of partying Wednesday that led to the scandal. People in Cartagena familiar with the matter said that some of the Secret Service agents paid $60 apiece to owners of the Pleyclub, a strip club in an industrial section of Cartagena, to bring at least two of the women back to the Hotel Caribe, where Obama’s advance team was staying.

The following morning, one of the women demanded an additional payment of $170, setting off a dispute with an agent that drew the attention of the hotel, the Cartagena sources said.

According to the Pleyclub’s registry at the local chamber of commerce, one of the club’s owners is named Michael Adam Hardy, whom chamber officials described as either American or Canadian.

On Monday, the Secret Service moved to revoke the top-secret security clearances of all 11 men from the agency who are under investigation, spokesman Edwin Donovan said.

The revocation of such clearances is not uncommon, he emphasized, and security clearances can be reinstated after internal investigations are complete, depending on the findings.

In a letter to all agency employees, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan stressed that it is “imperative . . . to always act both personally and professionally in a manner that recognizes the seriousness and consequence of our mission.”

Sullivan promised a “thorough and fair” investigation and concluded by saying that “in the wake of this embarrassing incident, it is my hope that each of us will be steadfast in our efforts to ensure that our performance and behavior mirror the oath we have sworn to uphold.”

The Secret Service personnel under suspicion include a mix of special agents who provide personal protection for the president and uniformed officers who perform building security and logistical support. They were part of an U.S. advance team of up to 200 people sent ahead to prepare for Obama’s arrival.

After the allegations of misconduct came to light Thursday, when hotel staff notified the U.S. Embassy, the service removed the 11 agents and replaced them with a new team. In addition, the military confined five of its personnel to their rooms at the hotel, pending the investigation. Military officials did not say how many more of its personnel might now be suspected of participating in the misconduct.

Prostitution, legal and regulated, is a booming business in the Caribbean tourist hub of Cartagena, a city of about 1 million inhabitants that is famous for its Spanish colonial heart and a modern stretch of Miami-style high-rises. As a byproduct of its lure of cruise ships and conventioneers, Cartagena draws prostitutes from both the city’s poor and upper-class echelons — as well as from different cities around the country.

Before the summit, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos asked the city health department for an action plan outlining disease prevention efforts with prostitutes ahead of the gathering of 30 hemispheric leaders.

Officials at Cartagena’s health department said that there are about 80 streetwalkers in the city’s colonial district, which features bountiful nightclubs, boutique hotels and elegant restaurants. Another 550 women, who will spend the night with a client for about $250, are estimated to be spread out in 15 nightclubs, officials said.

The Pleyclub touts its services by distributing small, glossy advertisements featuring nearly naked women to taxi drivers who drive visitors around town. The ads, in Spanish, promise: “We’re the best good time in the city.”

Inside the Pleyclub, there is a stage with two poles and a glass-enclosed shower in which women perform strip shows.

Several hotel workers said some of the Secret Service agents spoke good Spanish.

The Hotel Caribe, like most hotels in Cartagena, permits overnight visitors to join hotel guests. But there are rules: Young women brought for the night must come after 11 p.m.; cannot spend time in public areas, such as the lobby; must present identification to prove they are adults; and must leave by 6 a.m., two hotel employees said. The hotel also levies a $60 surcharge for each overnight visitor, said the employees, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for the management.

Hotel management declined to comment about the incident, saying that it must protect the privacy of its guests.

Even though Secret Service officials have said Obama’s security was not compromised, lawmakers who oversee the agency have grown increasingly outraged as new allegations surface.

“I find this to be so appalling,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “I can’t help but think, what if the women involved had been spies?. . . It’s such a breach of trust, and it’s virtually unbelievable. I’m truly shocked.”

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Disgrace To America Caused By Dumbass Secret Service Agent Who Wouldn’t Pay Columbian Whore For Services She Provided In His Hotel Room

WASHINGTON, DC – A Secret Service agent shamed the United States after a wild night of babes and booze that ended in an argument with a Colombian hooker over as little as $47.

One of 11 elite agents assigned to ensure President Obama’s protection at a summit meeting in Cartagena, Colombia, was busted after his lady of the evening refused to leave his hotel room in the morning without her fee.

That woman was one of 11 hookers hired by the agents — and the only one who hadn’t left Cartagena’s swank Hotel Caribe, where White House staffers, members of the press and dignitaries are staying during the Summit of the Americas meeting, sources said.

President Obama’s Secret Service team was reeling from a prostitution scandal.

The confrontation occurred early last week, said Rep. Pete King, a Long Island Republican who was briefed on the incident yesterday.

One of the agents sent home after agency bosses in DC learned what was going on was “in a supervisory role,” said King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

A hotel employee told The Associated Press that agents arrived at the beachfront hotel a week ago and drank heavily during their stay.

Prostitution is legal in much of Colombia inside “tolerance zones” controlled by police. The going rate for hookers in Cartagena is around $47, according to Colombian TV.

The trouble began for the Secret Service after the agents’ night of carousing, when a hotel employee noticed a hooker’s ID was still at the front desk at 7 a.m., in violation of hotel policy on overnight guests, King said.

The manager went to the agent’s room where the woman had spent the night and saw the two inside arguing, King said.

“She said the agent owed her money,” King said. “He said he didn’t have to pay her.”

He eventually forked over the money and the situation was resolved. But the cops were called and they filed a report, which was sent to the US Embassy.

The probe widened yesterday to include five members of the US military who were allegedly involved in the same incident, officials said.

The service members, with the Southern Command, are still in Colombia “because of the expertise and the knowledge that these guys have,” a military spokesman told CBS News.

A statement released by the Southern Command said the service members “violated the curfew . . . and may have been involved in inappropriate conduct.”

An expert on the Secret Service yesterday said that, although the agents involved in the scandal were not breaking Colombian law, most of them are married and could have been exposed to blackmail.

“It could have resulted in a potential assassination attempt on the president,” said Ronald Kessler, author of “In the President’s Secret Service.”

“It the biggest scandal in the history of the Secret Service and the most basic breach of security,” the author said.

Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said that Obama’s security was not compromised because of the incident.

“This entire matter has been turned over to our Office of Professional Responsibility, which serves as the agency’s internal- affairs component,” he said.

None of the agents involved was directly assigned to protect the president. Donovan said the agents involved were relieved from duty and replaced.

But the scandal has made the United States the laughingstock of the important summit, as diplomats have been gossiping about hooker high jinx rather than focusing on Obama’s goals in the region.

“I had a breakfast meeting to discuss trade and drugs, but the only thing the other delegates wanted to talk about was the story of the agents and the hookers,” chuckled one Latin American diplomat.

Without mentioning the Secret Service scandal specifically, Obama — who arrived in Cartagena on Friday — blasted “flashy” coverage of the controversy.

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5 US Department Of Defense Members May Be Involved In Misconduct Involving At Least One Columbian Whore That Lead To Removal Of 12 US Secret Service Agents

WASHINGTON, DC – Five Department of Defense service members may have been involved in an incident of “misconduct” allegedly involving at least one prostitute that led to the removal of up to 12 Secret Service agents from Cartagena, Colombia working for the president’s visit for the Summit of the Americas.

White House spokesperson Jay Carney said, “To be clear it is our understanding that it is part of the same incident.”

The five service members with the Southern Command were working to support the Secret Service and are still in Colombia “because of the expertise and the knowledge that these guys have,” according to Colonel Scott Malcom, Chief of Public Affairs US Southern Command.

A statement released by the U.S. Southern Command said the service members “violated the curfew established by the United States Senior Defense Official in Colombia and may have been involved in inappropriate conduct.”

However, the Secret Service agents involved have been sent back to the United States because of the incident allegedly involving prostitutes.

White House Spokesperson Jay Carney also said the president learned of Secret Service agents’ “personal misconduct” in Cartegena, Colombia Thursday evening.

“The president was made aware of the incident yesterday (Friday). The White House was made aware Thursday evening,” Carney said.

Carney’s statement provides a minor, yet additional detail, into a story where the Secret Service has provided little information.

CBS has learned that at least one United States Secret Service agent is alleged to have sought the services of a prostitute in Cartagena and that one of the agents allegedly involved with the prostitute is a supervisor with the team responsible for advance planning and response, which is not part of the president’s protective detail.

An official with the Secret Service disputes that the agent tied to the situation is not a supervisor.

Carney offered no additional details and directed all questions to the Secret Service.

“This is a matter that’s being looked into… by the Secret Service itself,” Carney said, adding that the president’s “focus continues to be on the meetings he’s having… on expanding American exports… and creating American jobs.”

Carney added that “the president does have full confidence in the United States Secret Service.”

A source in the Secret Service tells CBS News that one or more of the officers were involved with prostitutes and that there was a dispute over payment. One prostitute went to the police, who notified the State Department. The agents stayed at Hotel Caribe, where the international press is staying.

A former Secret Service agent told CBS News that the American Embassy in Colombia directed the entire division to be sent back to the United States because it was an embarrassment for the president and the U.S. The team was replaced before the president arrived in Colombia on Friday. The source also said that two of the men sent home were first level supervisors.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan confirmed the removal of personnel in a statement and said the agency is taking “allegations of misconduct seriously.”

“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,” Donovan said.

The Secret Service spokesman said none of the changes will affect the comprehensive security plan prepared for the president’s trip, and agency officials say this is not an operational deficiency but a “moral” one.

The summit in Colombia includes leaders from North, America and Central American nations, where the agenda includes legal trade, as well as drug and gun trafficking. The president said drug legalization will not lessen the role of drug cartels.

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12 US Secret Service Agents Sent Home From Columbia After At Least One Refused To Pay For Whore’s Services

WASHINGTON, DC – The dozen Secret Service agents sent home after a prostitution scandal in Colombia were busted after at least one of them refused to pay one of the hookers, sources said.

The scandal — a black eye for the United States’ reputation abroad — was revealed Friday just hours before President Obama arrived in Cartagena for the Summit of the Americas.

The 12 agents were part of an advance team assigned to secure a local hotel before the summit began, yet their attention apparently turned to taking advantage of Colombia’s policy of legal prostitution.

IN COLOMBIA, THE SEX BUSINESS IS SO BIG THAT SOME CALL IT THE ‘THAILAND OF LATIN AMERICA’

Five American service members were also accused of misconduct stemming from the scandalous incident at the hotel, according to the U.S. military.

“They had arranged to have a bunch of prostitutes come by and one of the agents refused to pay a prostitute,” said author Ronald Kessler, one of the leading experts on the Secret Service.

“Yes, doubly good judgment there.” Kessler, who was briefed on the investigation by his sources within the agency, told the Daily News Saturday that the spurned hooker told police about the lack of payment.

The 12 agents were immediately recalled to Washington.

“Their careers are over,” said Kessler. “Number one, it is against basic ethics to go to a prostitute,” he continued. “Number two, it is incredibly embarrassing to the White House.” “And number three,” he continued. “It could leave them open to blackmail and a possible assassination attempt.”

Obama still has “full confidence” in the Secret Service, according to White House spokesman Jay Carney, who declared late Saturday that the incident “has been more of a distraction for the press” than the President. Kessler said two of the agents were supervisors who attempted to cover up the mortifying incident.

The agents were staying at the beachfront Hotel Caribe, which is also hosting the White House staff and the traveling press team. Guests at the swanky hotel told reporters that several of the agents had been spotted drinking heavily during their weeklong stay.

Details of the incident remain murky, but U.S. officials believe one agent took a woman back to his room Wednesday night and threw her out in a dispute over money.

The woman caused a commotion in the hallway, getting the attention of local cops and other Secret Service agents, a senior official told The New York Times.

During the initial investigation, it emerged that other agents also had women in their rooms. Rep. Peter King (R-LI), the head of the House Homeland Security committee, said they were all “presumed” to be prostitutes. Though it was known if all 12 member of the Secret Service team are suspected of wrongdoing, they were all recalled as part of the investigation. Several of the agents are married, according to reports.

Prostitution is legal in Colombia, as long as it is conducted in so-called “tolerance zones.” Though the exact boundaries of the zones frequently change and are rarely enforced by police, the coastal city of Cartagena is a popular destination for prostitution and sex tourism.

Hookers can easily be procured online or in bars or hotels in much of the city. It was not clear how the agents met the women involved in the incident.

The scandal threatened to overshadow President Obama’s visit to the important summit. He landed in Cartagena Friday night and attended a formal dinner with the other world leaders at Castillo San Felipe de Barajasajas, an historic Spanish fortress.

The President, who had a full day of summit events Saturday, has not addressed the Secret Service scandal. He is not staying at the Hotel Caribe.

The Secret Service did not elaborate on the allegations Saturday. The night before, the agency — which is charged with protecting the President — simply confirmed that the officers were pulled back to Washington.

All of the agents are based in Washington, D.C., according to Kessler, author of “In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes With Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect.” The matter was turned over to the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which handles the Secret Services’ internal affairs.

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12 US Secret Service Agents Who Were Supposed To Protect Obama At International Summit Relieved Of Duty And Shipped Home Due To Misconduct With Columbian Prostitutes And Alcohol

WASHINGTON, DC – A dozen Secret Service agents sent to Colombia to provide security for President Obama at an international summit have been relieved of duty over alleged misconduct.

A caller who said he had knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press the misconduct involved prostitutes in Cartagena, site of the Summit of the Americas. A Secret Service spokesman did not dispute that.

A U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and requested anonymity, put the number of agents sent home at 12. Secret Service was not releasing the number of personnel involved.

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, but also did not dispute the allegations.

In Washington, 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 Cartagena for the summit.

Donovan said the allegations of misconduct were related to activity before the president’s arrival Friday night and did not impact security plans for Obama’s trip.

Obama attended a leaders’ dinner Friday night at Cartagena’s historic Spanish fortress and was due to attend summit meetings with regional leaders Saturday and Sunday.

The Washington Post reported that Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said the accusations related to at least one agent having involvement with prostitutes in Cartagena. The association represents federal law enforcement officers, including the Secret Service.

Adler later told the AP that he had heard that there were allegations of prostitution, but he had no specific knowledge of any wrongdoing.

The agents were staying at Cartagena’s Hotel Caribe, which is also hosting members of the White House staff and press corps during the summit

A hotel employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job, said the agents arrived at the beachfront hotel about a week ago. The employee described the agents as drinking heavily during their stay.

The employee said the agents left the hotel Thursday, a day before Obama and other regional leaders arrived for the weekend summit.

The hotel’s public relations chief had no comment.

Those 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.

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