WASHINGTON —A damaging portrait of the Secret Service and new questions about the military’s role in a prostitution scandal in Colombia emerged Wednesday. Senators on Capitol Hill challenged Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to reconcile the image of agents who protect the life of the president with the dozen officers and supervisors implicated in the sordid affair.
Meanwhile, the Defense Department acknowledged to other lawmakers that it knew that six military personnel had broken curfew rules before President Barack Obama’s arrival at a Latin American summit but let them remain on the job. In addition to the Secret Service officers and supervisors, another dozen military personnel were implicated in the prostitution scandal. The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., questioned the military’s decision “to let them continue on the mission, given the seriousness of the mission.”
The Defense Department briefed Levin and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Wednesday about its investigation, but McCain complained afterward that the Pentagon officials who met with them “provided appallingly little new information” and were “woefully unprepared to answer even the most basic questions about what happened in Cartagena.”
Napolitano told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the incident involving as many as 20 women appeared to be an isolated case. She said the agency’s office of professional responsibility had received no complaints in the past 2½ years, but it was unclear why she specified that period.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., pressed Napolitano about whether she believes this was the first such incident involving prostitutes.
“The only reason I suggest that we need to maybe look a little harder is because we’re lucky to have found out about this,” he said.
If the misconduct is part of a pattern, Napolitano added, “That would be a surprise to me.”
Napolitano also said the government is reviewing training rules for Secret Service employees to make clear what behavior is unacceptable.
“The training is focused on professionalism, on conduct consistent with the highest moral values and standards,” she said.
