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| -Lurid Crime Tales- | |
| Secret Service agents had president's schedule in rooms | |
| 2012-04-18 | |
The Secret Service agents who brought prostitutes back to their hotel rooms in Colombia last week had copies of the presidentÂ’s schedule in their rooms, which raises the issue of a potential security breach, a law enforcement official tells NBC News.
The story might have been kept a secret had it not been for a disgruntled woman who claimed she had not been paid by one of the agents. She argued with two Secret Service agents and then went to Colombian police. Local police reported the matter to the U.S. Embassy. It has also been revealed that among the Secret Service personnel involved were full-fledged agents, which further ratchets up the seriousness of the incident. The heavily armed agents play a key role in protecting the president, and their job is to neutralize attacks, according to the agency’s website. It was initially reported that five military service members were also involved, but that they may have only broken curfew. Now officials say that more were involved and that they did more than just return to their hotel rooms too late –- several also paid for prostitutes. The military service members involved were explosives experts and dog handlers from the Navy, Army and Marine Corps. The military advance team also included linguists and drivers, but they have not been implicated in the Wednesday night incident. At a press conference Sunday, Obama said he would be angry if the allegations turned out to be true. “When we travel, we have to observe the highest standards,” he said. “We’re not just representing ourselves. We’re here on behalf of our people.” The Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Secret Service, is weighing whether to launch an investigation into the prostitution allegations. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said they were embarrassed by the allegations. “What we do know is that several of our members distracted the issue from what was a very important regional engagement for our president,” Dempsey said. “We let the boss down because nobody is talking about what went on in Colombia other than this incident, so to that extent we let him down.” But Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., defended agents in the service, calling them outstanding. He received Secret Service protection in 2008 when he was running for president. “I am confident that the overwhelming majority of Secret Service people did not engage in this kind of behavior,” McCain said. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #13 The facial expressions tell it all: Billy is (still) chasing skirts, but all Bammy has to look forward to is Moochelle......I almost feel sorry for him (NOT!) |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2012-04-18 22:04 |
| #12 Obama's schedule: Tee time - 10 AM Smoke break - 3 PM Read TelePrompTer - 315 PM Blame Bush for any current country concers - 4 PM Send get well ecard to Chavez - 8 PM |
| Posted by: Airandee 2012-04-18 19:59 |
| #11 I blame Colombian bush! Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2012-04-18 19:35 |
| #10 (EX POTUS I mean) |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2012-04-18 19:15 |
| #9 OK, so why is the POTXS there, the drugs, the Whorws, ore the dopers? (Recruiting Workers Umm Dopers) |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2012-04-18 19:10 |
| #8 If I was the Prez, I'd be more than a little distrustful and lay off all travel instead of scouting more vacay spots for Michelle. That depends on what you might consider the lesser of two evils. :) |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2012-04-18 11:24 |
| #7 Obama's blaming the bushes. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2012-04-18 11:11 |
| #6 The narrative I heard this morning on the DC ads-news-commercials-traffic-ads-weather-commercials station said the 'secret' schedule was locked up in a room guarded by Marines. At least, they still have integrity! I wonder who was watching to door while the party went on inside? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2012-04-18 11:10 |
| #5 They were told to lock the schedules in the room safe--they could have been incapacitated or distracted and the safe compromised, especially when a menage-a-trois is suggested when she wanted $$ after arguing with 2 agents. Endangering POTUS over $47??? Especially in a country like Colombia when the US has gone after FARC and AUC, and ongoing ops against the cartels in league with Hezbollah, etc...is the Secret Service really that assinine??? If I was the Prez, I'd be more than a little distrustful and lay off all travel instead of scouting more vacay spots for Michelle. |
| Posted by: Omoluque Hapsburg8162 2012-04-18 11:00 |
| #4 If they have travel routes and the like out (Highly classified), then they need beaten with lead pipes. They were just trying to help, Darth. ;-) |
| Posted by: gorb 2012-04-18 03:02 |
| #3 Was it a schedule that was easily found by the public (speaking engagements, meetings, etc)? Then that isn't bad. A couple minutes with Google and a couple phone calls can find that information. If they have travel routes and the like out (Highly classified), then they need beaten with lead pipes. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2012-04-18 00:37 |
| #2 Stolen! |
| Posted by: badanov 2012-04-18 00:29 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: tu3031 2012-04-18 00:04 |