3 more Secret Service agents resign

Updated 8:03 PM ET

(CBS/AP) CBS News has learned through a law enforcement source that three more Secret Service agents have resigned in the wake of the Colombia prostitution scandal.

In addition, CBS News investigative producer Pat Milton reported that one other employee of the Secret Service has been implicated and is now under investigation, bringing the total of agents to 12. That agent has been placed on administrative leave. One of the agents previously under investigation has been cleared of serious wrongdoing but will face administrative action.

The service of the agents range from three to 12 years with the Secret Service.

Rep. Peter King, chairman of Homeland Security, told CBS News that 12th agent added was from a separate incident that happened five days before the Hotel Caribe night. The agent went out on the town and was staying at Hilton. Whatever he did, and King does not know, it was considered improper conduct. This information was found because investigators in Cartagena are interviewing employees at every hotel secret service stayed.

Also late Friday, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa urged a broader investigation, including checking hotel records for White House advance staff and communications personnel who were in Cartagena for the summit. In a letter to Sullivan and the inspector general at the Homeland Security Department, Grassley asked whether hotel records for the White House staffers had been pulled as part of the investigations.

Friday's developments would make six Secret Service employees forced out of the agency. Two supervisors and another employee were forced out earlier this week.

The agency released a statement that read: "At this point, five employees continue to be on administrative leave and their security clearances remain suspended pending the outcome of this investigation."

CBS News correspondent Norah O'Donnell reported that President Obama called in Secret Service director Mark Sullivan into the Oval Office for a face-to-face briefing on the investigation Friday afternoon.

As previously reported, the U.S. military said 11 service members are being investigated for alleged misconduct in Colombia. That's up from the 10 personnel the military last believed to be involved.

The military says six are from the Army, two each are from the Marines and Navy and one is from the Air Force. The Marine and Navy personnel are from San Diego and the Air Force member is from Charleston, S.C. The Army personnel are from the 7th Special Forces Group.

More Secret Service agents could be ousted soon
Ousted Secret Service supervisor joked about Palin

The military says the service members have returned to their commands. It says they have not been charged and are not under detention.

The service members were staying in the same Colombian hotel as 11 Secret Service employees who are under investigation for alleged misconduct involving prostitutes.

Eleven Secret Service employees were put on administrative leave last week following an incident in Colombia that involved at least some agency personnel bringing prostitutes to their hotel room. The scandal, which involves as many as 20 Colombian women, broke last week after a fight over payment between a prostitute and a Secret Service agent spilled into the hotel hallway. A 24-year-old Colombian prostitute told The New York Times that the agent agreed to pay her $800 for a night of sex but the next morning offered her only $30. She eventually left the hotel, she told the newspaper, after she was paid $225.

The scandal involved 11 officers and supervisors and at least 11 military members who were working on security before President Barack Obama arrived in Cartagena, Colombia, for the Summit of the Americas last week. The Pentagon acknowledged Friday that an 11th military person, a member of the Army, was implicated in the scandal.

Sources tell CBS News Secret Service officials believe their personnel picked up women at four different locations in Cartagena.

The Secret Service briefed about two-dozen congressional staff members Friday, mainly from the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to one individual who was there but was not authorized to be quoted by name.

The person said investigators have photo ID's and names from a Cartagena, Colombia, hotel registry for all the women who stayed overnight and are in the process of conducting interviews. Investigators have interviewed maids and said no alcohol or drugs were found in the rooms.

Those under investigation were offered polygraphs and drug tests. It is unclear whether anyone accepted, the person said.

As for the military personnel involved, Pentagon press secretary George Little said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was getting regular updates on the investigation.

"He understands the level of interest in this issue," Little said. "He has serious concerns about the alleged misconduct."

Little said members of Congress have not yet been briefed on the military investigation but would be "in the near future."

In a letter to Secret Service employees Monday and obtained by the AP, Director Sullivan said the agency had moved in a "swift, decisive manner immediately after this incident was brought to our attention." He praised "the overwhelming majority" of employees who he said had acted with the "highest levels of professionalism and ethical behavior."

"Our job, our mission, our responsibility is to the president, the American people and the individuals we are entrusted to protect," Sullivan said. "This is not just a matter of honor, although this is critical. It is imperative, as part of our sworn duties, to always act both personally and professionally in a manner that recognizes the seriousness and consequence of our mission."

The lawyer for ousted Secret Service supervisors David Chaney and Greg Stokes, Lawrence Berger of New York, said Friday that Obama's safety was never at risk and said leaks surrounding the ongoing investigations "distort the process."

Regardless of what happened inside hotel rooms, Berger said, it never jeopardized the president's security. Berger said he could not comment on the woman's claims about being paid for sex, but added, "I don't think anything she has said is material to any of the issues I am pressing with my clients."

"Nothing that has been reported in the press in any way negatively or adversely impacted the mission of that agency or the safety of the president of the United States," Berger said.

Chaney and Stokes were forced out of the agency Wednesday. A third agent, who has not been identified and was not a supervisor, resigned.

On Chaney's Facebook account, which was made inaccessible on Friday, Chaney joked that he was checking out former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin while he was protecting her in 2008. The AP published a photograph it took of Chaney working in Palin's protective detail in October 2008 during a campaign rally in Carson, Calif.

"I was really checking her out, if you know what i (sic) mean?" Chaney wrote after a friend commented on the picture posted in January 2009 on Chaney's Facebook account.

Speaking on Fox News late Thursday, Palin said the joke was on Chaney.

"Well check this out, buddy -- you're fired!" Palin said.

All the 11 Secret Service employees have had their top-secret security clearances lifted.

The Secret Service investigation has included interviews of agents and hotel staff. CBS News has learned the investigators have now spoken to a number of the women. King does not know specifically what they've found from women yet.

The tawdry affair has also prompted a military investigation of 11 service members, including six members of the Army, two Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal technicians, two Marine dog handlers and an Air Force airman.

An Air Force colonel and a military lawyer were also dispatched to Colombia this week. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, patronizing prostitutes is a crime for military personnel. It is referred to as "compelling, inducing, enticing or procuring a person to have sex in exchange for money; or receiving money for arranged sex." The UCMJ applies regardless of whether the service member is in the U.S. or abroad.

Officials from U.S. Southern Command, which organized the military role for the security operation, have not provided details of its probe beyond saying that at least some of the military members violated curfew and may have been involved in "inappropriate conduct."

White House press secretary Jay Carney said it was "preposterous to politicize" the issue, responding to criticism from Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions and Palin, who have said the allegations reflect poor management of the government under Obama.

Palin described the affair Thursday as a "symptom of government run amok."

"It's like, who's minding the store around here?" Palin told Fox.

[lisainfranklin]

Some MEN seem to think this is acceptable behavior and a take the stance that since the President wasn't in danger their behavior was not so bad. Not only is this dusgusting, but also illegal. Committing a crime is a serious matter and anyone who participated, condoned or knew and did nothing should be fired immediately.Anything less than firing is outrageous. Certainly no female personnel coommit such acts. This is just NOT OKAY. I'm betting that many of the prostitutes were under age as is custom in the area and that's really NOT OKAY.

[kingofallclergy_Ed]

You never ever 'stiff' a prostitute. They should be sacked. Our constitution does not support sending troops to
'protect strategic interest abroad' or indulge in immoral behaviour -"Safe Guarding
Strategics Interest"-Dick Chaney just one of many who
represents a manifest destiny point of view. He, and his
corporate and patriarchal pious colleagues, in the U.S.,
in Europe, along with the southern mafia of North
America [Dixie Mafia, and the evil side of our Military,
a culture that has infiltrated the CIA complete with
terrorist torturing training camps.] have a long history
of butchering people('mongrels'), subjugating and
exploiting the "ignorant", the 'weak', and have all but
ruined the reputation of the United States of America as
a peace loving, compassionate hand of justice and
equality. My prayer is that the patriot act be removed
now! No! The word "War" cannot be legally used if it is
not morally declared by Congress. There is no such thing
as an "ethical" war. A police action cannot be called a
war! Also belay all executive orders that call for US
troops (remove the proxy orders for corporate supported
security in foreign lands) to provide security for
merchants in foreign lands. Bring our troops home-ALL OF
THEM! We all should stop pandering to the industrialist
war machine(s). We should stop using the words "safety"
and "freedom" as an excuse for fascist acts; cowardly
and contrary to our constitution. If U.S. troops were
not guarding the oil, construction projects, and other
corporate ventures, covering all these territories all
over the world, we'd have brave young men and women in
North America helping us re-build our famous
infrastructure. "Give Peace a Chance". If everyone just
stopped and laid down their arms. This could happen.
This could be the time. This could happen. This could be
the time. "Give Peace a Chance" John Lennons
Brother//IMAGINE!!!

[ugacrew]

I whole heartedly agree with your commentary, entirely. The Scriptures teach that the love of money is the root of all evil. Churches all over our nation have been shuttered. More and more gambling facilities/casinos have replaced these institutions. They destroy families and the children ultimately suffer for it. People have become calloused and disrespectful of each other's needs and the bind that once made us great has grossly deteriated. It is now more of an "each man for himself thought process. We have retrogressed to segregation having failed to recognize the power of overcoming hatred. Our educational institutions are failing nationwide, not because of our inabilities but because of this hate and bigotry. We continue to oppress some by strangling them economically and using the negative impacts as a means to justifying the continuation of the oppression. We refuse to recognize that "we are our brothers keepers," and that as a nation, we are no stronger than our weakest link. Other nations persists in excellence while we persist in persecuting one another. Slowly, but surely, America is failing to live up to its original purpose. We seem to have a new one now. Every man for himself. Corporate prosperity at all cost. Humanity irrelevant. Kill or be killed. We used to be able to Pray for Peace, but even prayer is now banned and considered offensive. America the beautiful? Not anymore.

[verifabletruthmatters]

Sex or murder? Choose responsible sex. The President, etc. was not compromised. The Right Wing on the other hand have murdered millions already & will be responsible for murdering BILLIONS with 3 decades of lies.
Why Doesn't GOP Explain that Planet Is On A Trajectory to Become Uninhabitable?
The GOP has engaged in a Campaign of DECEIT w a corrupt Infrastructure, pursuing "Fix the data to push the HIDDEN AGENDAS" since the 1980s. (Conservatives w/o Conscience by Barry Goldwater and John Dean, Republican Gomorrah by Max Blumenthal, Republican War On Science by Chris Mooney for how they set up their Infrastructure of DECEIT) It's an "Unholy Alliance",constructed by Karl Rove & Paul Weyrich to marry the multinational corps that now own 90% of the GOP to the 100 million Fundamentalists who are working hard to create a Christian Theocracy in U.S. using the Book of Leviticus for Rule of Law. (NPR, Fresh Air: 10-03 & 8-24-2011, 8-26 & 9-23-2010, 11-24 & 12-16-09 and 9-15-2005, plus PBS, Bill Moyer's Journal 11-30-2007) Since they are now absolute butchers of verifiable Truth, as they pursue their motto, they're HUGE VIOLATORS of the associated Universal Laws running the show, which makes them HUGE VIOLATORS of God's World. As such, the only thing they can do is destroy, which is what we see going on with one damage-needed repair cycle after another. Two of the more powerful multinationals, who own the GOP, are Wall Street-Big Finance and Dirty Fossil Fuels. 3 decades of lies about deregulation resulted in the economic meltdown of Sept 2008 as derivatives stuffed with junk damaged the economy for the 3rd time--1987 (S&L), 1998 (LTCM), 2008 (Subprime). (PBS, Frontline "THE WARNING"--2009; Best Doc Oscar 2010--"Inside Job", All The Devils Are Here by Joe Nocera and Reckless Endangerment by Gretchen Morganson, also Michael Lewis' books--Liars Poker, The Big Short, and Boomerang.)BIG OIL now has the next horrendous economic meltdown underway w 3 decades of lies about Global Warming. The result will be TRILLIONS in damage by 2020 as sea level rise floods major U.S. cities like Manhattan, New Orleans, San Francisco, Tampa, Miami, Sacramento with 3 feet of sea level rise and severe weather events that will also cost TRILLIONS. Severe weather events in 2011 cost $52 BILLION and 80% was Global Warming. They will be responsible for killing BILLIONS of people, because now the planet is on a trajectory to become uninhabitable, while the Rt. Wing wants to pretend they're PRO-LIFE. They also willingly condemn 30 million children/day to existences of pure hell in abuse, neglect, abandonment, sexual molestation, and 16 million are homeless in 2011 to push the religious ignorance that Life Starts At Conception, which science addressed in 1992. The church pushed the ignorance that the earth was the center of the universe for 1400 years, 300 years past Copernicus and Galileo proving the planets revolved around the sun. Now the church pushes the ignorance that life starts at conception. Critical research has largely been reported by PBS, NPR, PRI, plus the 3000 Climate Scientists who are in total consensus. We need to get to 80% renewable energy by 2025 to shut down this horrendous acceleration and help save as much of the large ICE SHEETS as possible. But we can grow the economy by 158%, w 8 million Green Jobs, which the Obama Administration has been working on since 2009, constantly being thwarted by the GOP.
**NPR, TALK, Science Friday 1-22, 3-4, 8-12, 10-21-2011 (Reinventing Fire: grow GDP by 158% w 8 million Green Jobs)
**NPR, PRI 3-8&3-9, 12-7-11 "Stormy Forecast" 3-20-2012
**PBS, Need To Know 2-25 & 6-24-2011 Norfolk, VA has millions in damage from sea level rise already
**PBS, NOVA "Secrets Beneath The Ice"; how Antarctica melting raises sea level 60' by 2100
**HOT: the Next 50 years on Earth by Mark Hertsgard
**Storms of My Grandchildren by Dr. James Hansen
**Science As A Contact Sport by Dr. Schneider
**The Climate War by Eric Pooley; Dirty Fossil Fuel's Disinformation Campaign since 1980s
**The Heat Is On & Boiling Point Ross Gelbspan; Disinformation Game
**Field Notes From A Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert
**350.org, Sceptical Science
**Our Choice: 3 years of interviews w 3000 Climate Scientists compiling what they know
**The Earth Without Us by Alan Weisman
**Eaarth by Bill McKibben
**Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of A Continent by Andrew Nikiforuk. Increase Climate Change by 30-70%; puts planet over the cliff by 2015 which means stopping Keystone XL Pipeline; trashing a forest the size of Florida in Alberta, Canada, consuming the clean drinking watershed by 2030, poisoning those downstream w cancers, 26 oil companies--most own 90% of GOP doing what they always do;destroying

Ask your local, regional, state and national media outlets, why they are not exposing this rampant GOP corruption? If GOP gets back into power plan on the destruction of the planet and trillions of dollars of damage.

[lisainfranklin]

It's disgusting and disgraceful. If I hear the boys will be boys one more time I am going to puke. It is illegal , therefore these guys are criminals. IT is soooo NOT OKAY

[THOM RENTON]

AS MOST OF YOU KNOW OR SHOULD KNOW THAT THE SECRET SERVICE IS JUST THAT, AN ARM OF THE GOVERNMENT THAT DOES OR WILL WORK WITH THE FBI, CIA AND OTHERS TO DO SECRET THINGS.WATCH THE FILMS OF JFK AND JUST BEFORE HE WAS SHOT THE SS GUYS WERE, HIS PROTCTION, WERE CALLED AWAY TO RIDE BEHIND HIM AND WATCH HIM BE KILLED. HIS BROTHER IN CALIF.THE SAME THING, SO MANY SHOTS FIRED AND THE EVIDENCE WAS, THE SAME AS WITH HIS BROTHER, LOST, NEVER TO APPEAR AGAIN, CAUSE THEY HADE THE SS,FBI,CIA (GEORGE H.W. BUSH) AND THE MAFIA TO CAUSE AND COVER UP THEIR CRIMES AND REMAIN SECRET. WATCH YOURSELF WHEN OBAMBA HAS HIS OWN S.S.,NOT SECRET SERVICE BUT THE GUYS CAN TELL YOU WHEN WHEN TO SPEAK OR THEY ARREST YOU AND PUT YOU SOMEWHERE AND THEY NEVER CHARGE YOU. SAY GOOD BYE TO ALL OF YOUR FREEDOMS, IT'S CLOSER THAN YOU THINK!

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

CBS News has learned through a law enforcement source that three more Secret Service agents have resigned in the wake of the Colombia prostitution scandal.

---

How many will end up divorced in addition to unemployed, eh?

[cbsnews_viewer]

They brought it on themselves. Like the previous author interviewed by CBS, its "the Culture of the USSS" since supervisors are involved. Just like when NASA lost two space shuttles, they thought they where too smart and ignored the obvious.
They are lucky they are not facing investigation over government officials being hurt or killed. Who knows if the USSS is covering up drug use? (They certainly do not want to advertise security weaknesses. ) We have a conflicting report from MSNBC and the statement here: "Investigators have interviewed maids and said no alcohol or drugs were found in the rooms.
Those under investigation were offered polygraphs and drug tests. It is unclear whether anyone accepted, the person said." Take the polygraph or lose your security clearance is probably what was said. Companies test temporary workers for drugs why wouldn't the USSS require it now as a requirement to stay employed?

[themanfrombrum]

Fire the whole damn lot of those despicable agents.

[shurch4truth]

"Well check this out, buddy -- you're fired!" Palin said.

Sounds Presidential

[hypnotoad72]

As Presidential as Cletus and Nadine from "The Simpsons"...

[involved_indi]

dumb comment... she isn't the President...

[bradkt1]

This is just the beginning. Gloria Alred has yet to crawl out from under her rock to protect the poor exploited women who were "victimized" by the USSS...preferably in front of the TV cameras. She is probably organizing the news conference now.

Meanwhile, as Congressman Botox Nancy fumes and vents her outrage (on behalf of all women, of course) we are left with these pics of the new Latina Snookie while we all await the next developments with baited breath.

Is an appearance on "The View" far off for our newest Snookie from south of the border? I would have guessed Oprah Winfrey's show would be next, but Ophra no longer has a show. Barbara Wah-Wah might still be in the cards though,

This smells like such a set-up. Who would have agreed to pay her $800.00 up front? Maybe a hundred or two...but $800.00?

[shermanlynn]

Iwas wondering why its not being reported whether any of these men are married. That is an issue that shoes that it is not an important issue to you, but it is important to a large portion of your viewing audience.

[retm-w]

It's only an issue to that person and his wife. It's none of the viewing audience's business.