A day after U.S. lawmakers were briefed on an alleged prostitution
scandal in Colombia involving Secret Service members, a report emerged
Thursday of similar allegations, this time in El Salvador.
Seattle TV station KIRO,
a CNN affiliate, cited an unnamed U.S. government contractor who worked
extensively with the Secret Service advance team in San Salvador prior
to President Barack Obama's trip there in March, 2011.
The source said he was
with about a dozen Secret Service agents and a few U.S. military
specialists at a strip club in the city a few days before Obama arrived,
KIRO reported.
The men drank heavily at
the club, and most of them paid extra for access to a VIP section where
they were provided sexual favors in return for cash, the source told the
station.
KIRO said the owner of
the strip club corroborated the allegations. The owner confirmed that a
large number of Secret Service agents, and some military escorts,
"descended on his club" that week and were there at least three nights
in a row, KIRO reported.
The owner said his club
routinely takes care of high-ranking employees of the U.S. Embassy in
San Salvador as well as visiting FBI and agents from the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency, KIRO said. The owner said his reputation for
"security" and "privacy" makes his strip club popular with "those who
want to be discreet."
The source said he told
the agents it was a "really bad idea" to take the strippers back to
their hotel rooms, but several agents bragged that they "did this all
the time" and "not to worry about it," KIRO reported.
KIRO investigative
reporter Chris Halsne told CBS' "This Morning" Thursday that he
considers his source very credible because the source told him about the
alleged scandal last year, while Halsne was in El Salvador on a
different story.
Halsne said he pressed
the source for details at the time, but the man refused to go on the
record. After the Colombia allegations surfaced, Halsne again pressed
his source, who then agreed to talk.
CNN cannot independently confirm the allegations.
The Washington Post
reported Thursday that an unnamed source says such behavior is part of
the culture at the Secret Service and not a one-time occurrence.
The Secret Service said
it has no comment on the Post story, but a Secret Service official, who
was not authorized to comment on the continuing investigation, said
"it's difficult for the Secret Service to defend against this,"
referring to the Post's article.
"The reaction by our
leadership speaks for itself," the official told CNN. "Everyone was sent
home. There's an investigation. We have taken action regarding the
agents."
News of the alleged
activity in El Salvador follows an investigation into an alleged
prostitution scandal in Colombia before the president's trip this month
to a summit in Cartagena.
The scandal involves Secret Service and U.S. military members who allegedly consorted with prostitutes.
Nine Secret Service
members have resigned or are being forced out as a result of the
scandal. A separate military investigation has yet to announce any
measures against U.S. service members allegedly involved.
Two U.S. lawmakers said
Wednesday they have heard reports of other incidents similar to those
alleged to have happened in Colombia.
Sen. Joe Lieberman,
chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee, said Wednesday that since the Colombia scandal broke, several
whistle-blowers have called his committee with what he called
"credible" reports of other incidents.
Lieberman would not
provide details but said he intends to hold a committee hearing focusing
on potential Secret Service misconduct beyond what allegedly happened
in Colombia.
Shortly after those
comments, however, a committee spokesman said Lieberman had misspoken,
and that the committee had received a call from just one person claiming
to have information on possible misconduct.
But Rep. Darrell Issa,
chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said
Tuesday that his committee has heard allegations of similar misconduct
by Secret Service agents dating back years. Issa offered no specifics.
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