WASHINGTON — The Secret Service on Wednesday announced the departure of three employees connected to a prostitution scandal last week involving members of President Barack Obama’s security detail who were in Cartagena, Colombia.
As the agency tried to manage the fallout from the embarrassing episode, it said in a statement that one agent is expected to resign and another, a supervisor, intends to retire. A third, also a supervisor, has been recommended for firing but will have an opportunity to appeal, officials said.
In all, 11 Secret Service employees — either agents or staff members of the agency’s uniformed division — and 10 military personnel are suspected of being involved in a night of carousing that included heavy drinking, visits to strip clubs and prostitutes on April 11, two nights before Obama was to arrive in the seaside town of Cartagena for an international summit.
The agency and the Defense Department are each investigating the alleged misconduct. The remaining eight Secret Service personnel are on administrative leave, and their top-secret security clearances are suspended. The military has returned its service members to their home bases.
The allegations — and accompanying negative publicity — have deeply angered rank-and-file members of the Secret Service. In interviews, current and former agents said they are particularly outraged by the alleged involvement of the two senior supervisors.
“I was really disappointed. I’ve learned a lot from both of these guys,” said one agent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. “I was surprised they were involved. Especially because they are senior people.”
