Report: USSS agents bragged about rowdy conduct

(CBS News) More details are emerging on whether Secret Service employees hired strippers and prostitutes in advance of President Obama's visit last year to El Salvador, including a U.S. government subcontractor's claim that agents bragged that they "did this all the time," according to CBS affiliate KIRO Seattle.

In El Salvador, KIRO-TV reporter Chris Halsne spoke to a U.S. government subcontractor who claims to have accompanied a group of Secret Service agents to a strip club shortly before Mr. Obama's 2011 trip to the country. The subcontractor, who is not named in the KIRO-TV report, claims members of the Secret Service advance team received "sexual favors" in a VIP section of the club. Additionally, the subcontractor said at least two of the agents took escorts back to their hotel.

In a report that aired on KIRO Thursday, the subcontractor said the agents partied at the club into the early morning. "They're hitting the town, so they wanted to see where the action was, and it just so happen(s) I know a lot of good spots where you can get entertained, let your hair down as we say and basically, that's what I did. They went and enjoyed themselves," he said.

KIRO: Backstory: How Halsne tracked down Secret Service story
KIRO: Source: Agents in El Salvador bragged to strippers they worked for Obama

The source said that the agents used their job positions to bait women and that they bragged aout being part of Obama's Secret Service crew. The subcontractor added that he suggested to some of the agents that what they were doing as not a good idea given the crime in the country. Despite his repeated warnings, according to him, the agents said they "did this all the time" and "not to worry about it."

Halsne asked the subcontractor if this was something the agents did everywhere they went based on the conversations. "Yeah," the subcontractor responded. "Definitely. I mean, like I said, conversations I heard; they bragged about it. How good was the night in 'X' place or country. Yeah, I heard that more than once."

The subcontractor then said: "I know several girls were approached -- one in the military and Secret Service each approached them about getting a special service at the hotel."

Earlier, the Secret Service acknowledged Thursday it is investigating the new disclosure. A spokesman for the Secret Service, Edwin Donovan, said the agency was investigating allegations raised in news reports about unprofessional behavior that have emerged in the aftermath of the prostitution scandal in Colombia.

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Prostitution is legal in both Colombia and El Salvador.

On "CBS This Morning" Thursday, Halsne told Erica Hill and Charlie Rose that the subcontractor mentioned the agents' behavior to him last year while he was on assignment for another story in the country. Only after the Colombia scandal broke nearly two weeks ago did the subcontractor agree to talk about the 2011 trip on the record, Halsne said.

The strip club's owner confirmed parts of the subcontractor's story to Halsne, namely that Secret Service agents and "high-ranking employees of the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador as well as visiting FBI and DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agents" frequented his club. The strip club owner claims, however, "he doesn't allow prostitution inside the club and that all his 'girls' are at least 18-years-old. He says the girls can do what they want after work, but he discourages them from making contact with customers at other locations," according to KIRO-TV.

CBS News' Cami McCormick spoke with State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland on the El Salvador report.

"We've seen this press reporting. Obviously we will enquire of our Embassy in San Salvador with regard to the conduct of our own employees. But the article alleges that they attended the establishment not that they engaged in any illegal or un-sanctioned conduct. So we will enquire of our Embassy and see what we learn," said Nuland.

Asked about the government's "zero tolerance" policy toward this type of conduct, Nuland said: "... members of the Foreign Service are prohibited from engaging in notoriously disgraceful conduct which includes frequenting prostitutes and engaging in public or promiscuous sexual relations or engaging in sexual activity that could open the employee up to the possibility of blackmail, coercion or improper influence."

In a statement, the DEA said they had seen the report but were "unaware of any allegations of misconduct. Any information that can be assessed as credible will be followed up in an appropriate manner and immediately."

[slhodges]

I heard this same excuse, "at least they got the job done" - are you implying that you have to party with hookers to protect the president? They use that same sorry excuse all over the defense intelligence agencies. Well fellas, it sort of falls apart on 9/11, because you didn't get the job done, and the terrorists were right there partying with the hookers the night before. Where were you?

[RetiredAFK9]

So what they party, if they cheated on their wives then it is between them. What really matters is that the USSS gets the job done!!!! Look at their record of job accomplishment

[bugumdow]

Well, i am wondering what the motive of the subcontractor is to tell us this story. If he was there what did he do to prevent it?..When they asked him/her for the "cool spots " in town why didn't he take them to a "more decent place"? Lets stop being hypocrites and realize that the story is one sided...and if indeed he (if a male) thought the girls were prostitutes, how did he know?...has he ever solicited sexual favors for money from them?...How do we even know if the service men who allegedly engaged in this act are married?

The secret service and all agencies alike go through a lot in the discharge their duties....sometimes drugs, bullet wounds prostitutes...pimps etc. If one has to spend time in the club with girls a sub-contractor describes as "prostitutes" then so be it.

Lets remember that there are certain jobs that don't have working hours and the best way to know what is happening in town prior to your president's arrival is to go to places like this and not to the town museum...BUT...that is just my opinion.

[nancy_naive]

When all is said and done, when all the heads have finished rolling, when life returns to normal at the USSS, what will the lesson learned be?

Pay the girls.

[wavelength5]

It is interesting to see that David Chaney is mentioned along with Todd Palin in Shailey Tripp's book "Boys Will Be Boys". Not that the msm is going to ever open that can of worms. But Malia Litman provides some insight to how far back this whole Secret Service-and-prostitutes story goes: http://malialitman.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/todd-palin-provided-sexual-services-to-secret-service-agent/

[mrmouth]

So they acted like men. Say it isn't so.

[mrmouth]

So they acted like men. Say it isn't so.

[standupfanatic]

You can't be serious mrmouth? REAL men don't behave like pigs in heat while they are preparing to protect the President in a dangerous country. Real men don't bring dishonor to their work, their spouses, and their families. Real men don't risk being fired from their jobs for an illicit roll in the hay. Real men do not compromise their mission, or open themselves up to the possibility of blackmail. There is NO excuse for such "conduct unbecoming." And, if that is really how you think, mrmouth, I feel sorry for the person you are with.

[ageofknowledge]

They make all that money and had all that respect and all they had to do was act right, do their job, and cash their enormous checks. But NOOOOOOO.....

[timetostop]

when you make all that money and you have all the materiel things you need, what else are you going to spend it on but having fun. theres a time and place for ever thing and they picked the wrong time and place. these people put their live on the line ever time they go to work, stress relief comes in all fourms.