Washington - The US Secret Service said on Wednesday
that three employees will leave their jobs over the sex scandal in a
hotel in Colombia which tarnished the elite presidential protection
agency's image.
Two leading congressmen meanwhile revealed in a
letter to Secret Service chief Mark Sullivan obtained by ABC News that
agents accused of consorting with prostitutes may have been careless
with "sensitive security information".
Representatives Darrell
Issa and Elijah Cummings also warned that the party hijinks in the
Caribbean resort of Cartagena before President Barack Obama's arrival
last weekend brought the entire culture of the agency into question.
The
Secret Service said one "supervisory" employee will retire over the
affair, a huge diplomatic embarrassment, another has been told he will
be sacked and a third "non-supervisory" employee has resigned.
Paul
Morrissey, of the service's Office of Government and Public Affairs
said a probe into the alleged scandal was still at an early stage, and
that eight other agents remained under investigation, in a process which
included the use of polygraph lie detector technology.
A total
of 11 agents and at least 10 military personnel are being investigated
over the incident, which reportedly came to light when a prostitute got
into a dispute over payment with one of the agents.
Public trust
The
departure of the three agents came amid a growing clamour for heads to
roll in the Secret Service following the alleged incident, which
overshadowed Obama's important visit to Colombia for the Summit of the
Americas.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is a
Secret Service protectee, said on Wednesday he would "clean house" at
the agency.
"The right thing to do is to remove people who have
violated the public trust and have put their playtime and their personal
interests ahead of the interests of the nation," Romney said.
The
White House said that Obama would be "angry" if the allegations were
true and retains confidence in Sullivan, but is waiting for the outcome
of the investigation before commenting further.
Issa and Cummings
told Sullivan that America's capacity to protect the president depended
on the "character and judgment" of Secret Service agents.
"The
actions of at least 11 agents and officers in Colombia last week showed
an alarming lack of both. Your task is to restore the world's confidence
in the US Secret Service," the lawmakers wrote.
Past disciplinary action
The
accused agents made "a range of bad decisions, from drinking too much,
to engaging with prostitutes, to bringing foreign nationals into contact
with sensitive security information", the letter said.
The agents had also opened themselves to the threat of blackmail and other forms of potential compromise, the lawmakers wrote.
They
asked Sullivan to provide details of any disciplinary action against US
Secret Service agents overseas since 2007 and to ascertain whether the
women involved were over 18 years of age.
If they are not, the
agents could have broken a US law which makes it illegal for an American
to have illicit sexual contact with anyone under that age in a foreign
country.
The New York Times
on Wednesday carried an interview with one of the prostitutes, who said
that the affair came to light after an agent offered her $30 for sex
after earlier agreeing to pay $750.
The 24-year-old woman, who
was not identified, said the early morning row led to the matter being
taken up by hotel and police in Colombia. She said her group of women
had approached by the agents in a disco the night before.
Lasting damage
The
image of the US Secret Service, known for sharp suited agents with
sunglasses and earpieces ready to take a bullet for the president, is
being dragged through the mud in the scandal.
The agency, which
protects presidents, their families, foreign leaders in the United
States and presidential candidates, is enduring a painful trial by media
and questions about the agency's entire culture.
The top
Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, said that
if the lurid stories were true, it could do lasting damage to the
Service's reputation.
"It's going to bring a black mark to the
whole Secret Service because, for 150 years or so, I think they've been a
pretty respected organisation," Grassley said on MSNBC.