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Manuel Pedraza / AFP - Getty Images file
View of the Hotel Caribe in Cartagena, Colombia, where a prostitution scandal involving U.S. Secret Service agents erupted in April 2012.
Two U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents “facilitated a sexual encounter” between a prostitute and a U.S. Secret Service agent days before President Barack Obama visited Colombia for a summit meeting in April 2012, according to a Justice Department investigation obtained exclusively by NBC News.
A summary of the findings of the investigation, included in a Dec. 20 letter from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General to Sens. Joseph Lieberman and Susan Collins, indicated that a third DEA agent present on the night of the incident was not involved in procuring the prostitute for the Secret Service agent.
“While DEA agent #3 was present for a dinner that took place earlier that evening with the USSS agent and the other two DEA agents, he was not present in the residence when the sexual encounter took place and played no role in facilitating it,” the summary said.
All three DEA special agents admitted that they had paid for sexual services of a prostitute, the investigation also found, and “used their DEA Blackberry devices to arrange such activities.” In addition, the report says the agents tried to destroy incriminating information or initially lied to investigators about the incidents. All three agents have high-security clearances.
The summary concluded that the agents’ actions did not warrant criminal prosecution. It said the U.S. Attorney’s Office also “declined to initiate legal proceedings.” It said the case had been referred to the DEA for “action it determines to be appropriate.”
In a letter sent Wednesday to DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart, Collins, R-Maine, called the findings “troubling” and the conclusion that law enforcement officials obstructed the OIG investigation “deeply troubling.” She also asked Leonhart to explain why – nearly four months after the Office of the Inspector General referred the matter to the DEA -- “It is my understanding that those administrative actions are still pending.”
In a statement, DEA spokesman Rusty Payne said, "The Drug Enforcement Administration takes these matters very seriously. Any allegations of misconduct or wrongdoing by DEA personnel are thoroughly investigated and then reviewed by DEA's Board of Professional Conduct for any disciplinary action warranted. This matter is currently under review by the Board of Professional Conduct."
A DEA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, first said that while senior officials learned of the OIG’s findings in September, the agency was not allowed to act until the OIG concluded and presented its findings on Dec. 20. Later, the official acknowledged that that was not correct and that the OIG had officially referred its findings on Sept. 17.
Sources briefed on the scandal have told NBC News that approximately a dozen members of the Secret Service security detail hit the clubs of Cartagena on the evening of April 11, 2012, for a night of drinking that ended with them bringing women back to their hotel rooms.
Some of the women received money, and others did not ask for any, but in one case, an agent refused to pay, and the woman summoned a police officer. That led to an angry encounter that resulted in the debauchery becoming public.
The scandal led to the resignation or retirement of nine of 12 implicated Secret Service employees. Three others were cleared of serious misconduct but still could be disciplined.
The Pentagon also launched an investigation of a dozen military members in connection with the scandal. No disciplinary action has been announced as a result of that investigation.
Lisa Myers is NBC News' senior investigative correspondent; Mike Brunker is an NBC News investigations editor.
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Leave a Comment:
bet obama was livid when he found out he wasnt going to be able to join them in the gangbang.
Seriously? I don't think Obama is that type of man. He is a world apart from Bill Clinton. The only thing they have in common is their politics, and that's about it.
you may be right, obama's greed alone wouldnt allow himself to share.
Yea I don't think bozo bama has the Balls
I don't see the difference between a street hooker, and a woman who marries a man just for his money, then divorces him and collects alimony. What's the difference? At least the hooker is honest about what she wants.
who's dumb enough to tell their wife about ALL of the money they have? no sympathy from me for the stupid in this world.
Who says the laws in this country are sane
Get married ..50/50 chance on getting screwed
and Not your preferred way..great odds ey
All of us march down that church isle with the
firm admission that this mate ..Is The One..yea right
It's good to hear that government agencies can work together and get a good outcome.
outcum !
How is this not providing false information (a criminal offence) or obstructing justice?
You or I do it... guaranteed charged with a crime. We need to have law enforcement charged with the crimes they commit instead of them just getting fired.
The scary thing here is these morons can't even arrange a simple thing like a date with a prostitute without getting caught, and these are our secret spies ?
They only get it right in a James Bond Movie
EXCLUSIVE: DEA agents arranged prostitute for Secret Service agent
Our government at work for you.
It explains why people in government have to retire at early age. The constant partying will take its toll.
These poor unfortunate Agents are all victims and caught up in finger pointing. Why can't we all just get along.
just what I would want to be with- a worn-out whore.
only losers pay for sex.
We all pay for sex..one way or another
This is the type of peaple we want our tax dollars used for.
Enough already. Every last one involved in this mess should have long ago been fired. They picked and chose the sacrificial few and now this mess raises its head again (no pun). An absolute disgrace. Shame on Obama. He's the one that chuckled and failed to take appropriate and decisive action immediately. Whores legal or not in Columbia, those bastards were on the clock and the US taxpayers paid their overtime, benefits, expenses, lodging, and the prostitutes. Nice way to spend tax dollars, oh wait, the entire US Congress is now at fault because both parties effectively pissed on the 14th Amendment of the Constitution by refusing to uphold it, but bet your bottom dollar, they are all out to destroy the Second Amendment rights as guaranteed by the US Constitution. The entire US Government is Rogue, and thus it is merely a Criminal Enterprise. My congratulations to all the scumbags involved, you really pulled on over on the stupid taxpayers, and Obama let you all get away with it. Isn't that correct, Mr.Biden?
This a tiny drop in the barrel...they take in 200 billion a month
and over 16 trillion in debt...get ready folks
we will Not be the Country we knew in 2020
..if it takes that long
That is the best laugh I have had in weeks. Procuring a prostitute is not a crime in Columbia. Just helping out my bro'.
AnnaBanana
Exactly what "Why do you need both males and females in these positions" positions are you talking about? Do you have video? Share it! Lighten up and be a little more loose. I would most definitely NOT hold it against you if you picked up a gigolo and had your way with him-do you a lot of good. It is because of tight a---- like you that some of those guys were fired....so what about your double standard now? Get the facts girl.
Yep. And if you continue to defend them we should look into you.
Lovers, Lies and Thieves...
Better known as the Obama administration...
Who gives a @!$%#? Isn't that @!$%# legal over there?
Hey , he need it , and someone had connections to prostitutes , unless you open your mouth about a sexual need you will never get it .
BTW Few people here can even come close to imagining what it must be like for a DEA agent in Columbia. Until you go on down and give it a try perhaps you should not be so judgemental on how they deal with the constant threat and stress. This was ALL completely legal down there. No harm no foul.
The DEA is a known bunch of crooks. Please dont defend them unless you condone the way they do business.
so what, everyone needs to laid once in a while
I personally perform better after busting a nut...
i cant really say anything about it since i have visited a few lap dance bars myself ...
The issue is, that the Agents are On Duty, and engaging in Moral Turpitude. The Agents are On Duty until the President is returned to US soil and they have been properly relieved. Not the People of the United States who are at fault, because the Secret Service and the Agents themselves, have a "Holier Than Thou" attitude. The People of the United States, are only holding the Agents to their Sworn Oath. Think of it this way, possibilities exist that this was not the first nor last time something like this happened. It's not that the Agents only jeopardized Obama's life, the Agents endangered the Office of the President of the United States, by their actions as an assassin could in fact have gotten within lethal proximity to the President of the United States or, an Agent could have been compromised by a drug cartel. It's not a matter to be taken lightly, but it was. Stupid is, as stupid does. They got away with it. So where's the big show in Congress? All of them are probably guilty of the same thing, and all of it at the expense of the US taxpayer. ROGUE GOVERNMENT=Dissolution of the United States of America. But that will never be addressed. Let's drop the entire matter and move on. Oh.., Gun Control! Everybody jump up and down in anticipation but keep on federally funding abortion, which is Infanticide. DEGENERATES!!
This makes Obama look incompetent.
Anthony: You make me laugh any harder I might piss my pants!
"look incompetent" He is incompetent.
Do Ya Think?? I pretty much saw the incompetence 3 1/2 years ago
So what is the media trying to report? Why don't they report a little more on why our elected officials become so blatantly self-serving and dishonest? I'm sure it just rubs off on most of the people that hang out with our elected officials and/or folks that work in that environment. Just goes with the territory.
seejc: The media is apparently complicit by withholding information until this time. The media deliberately waited and misled the American people.
And guess what. They are not fired and probably won't be.
I rarely get on MSN anymore. Almost 17 trillion in Federal theft, and your writing about a couple of off duty DEA cops getting laid in a country where it's legal? What saint died at the NBC press?
It was 12 "hand-picked" members of Obama's personal security team that were partying it up and getting laid by hookers. .....I wonder if King Obama got pissed off that they didn't wait for him this time??
Who cares, they where off duty in a country that it is legal. Americans are the most naïve people on earth. Just look at Europe and many other countries of the world "its legal." The oldest professional service in the world:-) Good thing know one is look at the Military, we would not have any troops in Korea!!!!!!
I wonder in 330 ad, if Rome experienced some of the same goings on?
it seems the emperor Barack has been playing his fiddle......
Doubtful--Rome never considered prostitution anything to care about.
Sort of the way the majority of the world since the beginning of time--except us--has looked at it.