By: Laurie Kellman, Associated Press
There was no risk to
President Barack Obama as a result of a prostitution scandal at a
Colombia hotel that involved a dozen Secret Service officers, Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano told a Senate
panel Wednesday.
Napolitano, who was facing questions from the Senate
Judiciary Committee for the first time since the scandal erupted
earlier this month, testified that the alleged behavior by Secret
Service employees is "inexcusable" and a "thorough and full
investigation is under way." She said the officers' behavior "was not
part of the Secret Service way of doing business."
"All 12...have either faced personnel action or been
cleared of serious misconduct," Napolitano said. "We will not allow the
actions of a few to tarnish the proud legacy of the Secret Service."
Napolitano also said part of the investigation will
include a review of training to see "what if anything needs to be
tightened up."
When asked by committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy,
D-Vt., if Secret Service officers are specifically training on issues
related to having intimate relationships with foreign nationals, she
said the training is "focused on professionalism, on conduct consistent
of the highest moral standards."
Napolitano also testified that the Secret Service
Office of Professional Responsibility, which is investigating the
incident in Cartagena, Colombia, had not received any similar complaints
of misconduct in the last 2 ½ years.
The DHS inspector general is also supervising the
investigation and "the investigatory resources of the Secret Service,"
she said, adding that she expect the inspector general to do a complete
investigation.
Leahy said before the hearing that he wanted to know
how thorough the investigation into the misconduct has been and whether
such behavior by Secret Service officers has been tolerated in the
past.
"I think that's a very legitimate question. And I've
raised it twice with the director of the Secret Service. We'll raise it
again," Leahy told NBC's "Today Show."
The Secret Service announced late Tuesday that all
12 implicated officers had been dealt with: eight forced out, one
stripped of his security clearance and three cleared of wrongdoing, all
within two weeks of the night in question.
The scandal erupted after a fight over payment
between a Colombian prostitute and a Secret Service employee spilled
into the hallway of the Hotel Caribe ahead of President Barack Obama's
arrival at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena. A dozen military
personnel have also been implicated, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta
said they have had their security clearances suspended.
Obama said Tuesday the employees at the center of
the scandal were not representative of the agency that protects his
family in the glare of public life. "These guys are incredible. They
protect me. They protect Michelle. They protect the girls. They protect
our officials all around the world," the president said on NBC's "Late
Night With Jimmy Fallon."
"A couple of knuckleheads shouldn't detract from
what they do," Obama added. "What these guys were thinking, I don't
know. That's why they're not there anymore."
Lawmakers across Congress say they are concerned
about the security risk posed by the proximity the prostitutes — as many
as 20, all foreign nationals — had to personnel with sensitive
information on the president's plans.
"No one wants to see the president's security compromised or America embarrassed," Leahy said.
Napolitano said that there was no risk to the
president. Questions about the culture of the agency, she said, are
still being investigated but she was not aware of this being a wider
problem.
"This behavior was not part of the Secret Service
way of doing business," Napolitano testified. "We are going to make sure
that standards and training, if they need to be tightened up they are
tightened."
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, House Speaker John
Boehner said the scandal is an embarrassment to the agency and the
United States, but stopped short of calling for an independent
investigation.
"What I'm looking for are the facts. I don't want to
just jump out there and make noise just to be making noise," Boehner
told reporters. "Let's get to the bottom of this."
The Colombia scandal has been widely denounced by
official Washington, but it's a delicate political matter in an election
year with the presidency and congressional majorities at stake. All
sides have praised Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan's swift action
and thorough investigation, in part because he's spent significant time
keeping key lawmakers in the loop. Pentagon officials, too, are
investigating and are expected to brief Senate Armed Services Committee
Chairman Carl Levin and ranking Republican John McCain on Wednesday.
In a similar but unrelated incident, Panetta said
Tuesday that three Marines on a U.S. Embassy security team and one
embassy staff member were punished for allegedly pushing a prostitute
out of a car in Brasilia, Brazil, last year after a dispute over
payment. Panetta, speaking in Brasilia, said he had "no tolerance for
that kind of conduct."
The military investigation into the Cartagena incident is continuing.
Another Senate panel is looking for a pattern of
misconduct. Sen. Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee, told reporters on Tuesday that he'll
hold hearings on the service's culture and whether clear rules exist on
how employees should behave when they are off duty but on assignment.
"I want to ask questions about whether there is any
other evidence of misconduct by Secret Service agents in the last five
or 10 years," Lieberman said. "If so, what was done about it, could
something have been done to have prevented what happened in Cartagena?
And now that it has happened, what do they intend to do?"
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