New sex claim hits US Secret Service

The US Secret Service says it is investigating allegations that some of its agents paid for strippers and prostitutes in El Salvador. The allegations come in the wake of a sex scandal involving Secret Service and military personnel in Colombia.

An advance presidential security team is reported to have paid for sexual favours in a strip club in 2011.

Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings said the Secret Service director had not yet found anything "credible".

Read more: BBC News

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Secret Service agents entertained prostitutes in Obama's rooms

US President Barack Obama was scheduled to hold a series of private meetings with Latin American leaders in the same hotel rooms in Cartagena where Secret Service agents had earlier entertained prostitutes, it has emerged.

The revelation that the President's personal safety could have been directly compromised by the agents' off-duty actions - a clear breach of tight security protocols surrounding presidential visits - has added a further dimension to the biggest scandal to engulf the elite service in its 142-year history.

It is alleged that the team had taken prostitutes to their hotel rooms in the Colombian city less than 48 hours before Mr Obama was due to arrive at the Summit of the Americas. 

General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke of the military's embarrassment over the affair. "We let the boss down," he said.

Read more: The Australian

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11 US Secret Service agents being inquired for prostitution while on duty

The U.S. Secret Service on Saturday placed 11 agents on administrative leave as the agency investigates allegations that the men brought prostitutes to their hotel rooms in Cartagena, Colombia, on Wednesday night and that a dispute ensued with one of the women over payment the following morning.

Secret Service Assistant Director Paul S. Morrissey said the agents had violated the service’s “zero-tolerance policy on personal misconduct” during their trip to prepare for President Obama’s arrival at an international summit this weekend.

Read more: The Washington Post

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