President Obama’s Secret Service team was reeling from a prostitution scandal. (AP)
HOLA! Prostitution is legal in “tolerance zones” in Colombia. The going rate for hookers is around $47. (Getty Images)
A Secret Service agent shamed the United States after a wild night of babes and booze that ended in an argument with a Colombian hooker over as little as $47.
One of 11 elite agents assigned to ensure President Obama’s protection at a summit meeting in Cartagena, Colombia, was busted after his lady of the evening refused to leave his hotel room in the morning without her fee.
20 US AGENTS COULD BE INVOLVED IN COLOMBIAN HOOKER SCANDAL
That woman was one of 11 hookers hired by the agents — and the only one who hadn’t left Cartagena’s swank Hotel Caribe, where White House staffers, members of the press and dignitaries are staying during the Summit of the Americas meeting, sources said.
The confrontation occurred early last week, said Rep. Pete King, a Long Island Republican who was briefed on the incident yesterday.
One of the agents sent home after agency bosses in DC learned what was going on was “in a supervisory role,” said King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
A hotel employee told The Associated Press that agents arrived at the beachfront hotel a week ago and drank heavily during their stay.
Prostitution is legal in much of Colombia inside “tolerance zones” controlled by police. The going rate for hookers in Cartagena is around $47, according to Colombian TV.
The trouble began for the Secret Service after the agents’ night of carousing, when a hotel employee noticed a hooker’s ID was still at the front desk at 7 a.m., in violation of hotel policy on overnight guests, King said.
The manager went to the agent’s room where the woman had spent the night and saw the two inside arguing, King said.
“She said the agent owed her money,” King said. “He said he didn’t have to pay her.”
He eventually forked over the money and the situation was resolved. But the cops were called and they filed a report, which was sent to the US Embassy.
The probe widened yesterday to include five members of the US military who were allegedly involved in the same incident, officials said.
The service members, with the Southern Command, are still in Colombia “because of the expertise and the knowledge that these guys have,” a military spokesman told CBS News.
A statement released by the Southern Command said the service members “violated the curfew . . . and may have been involved in inappropriate conduct.”
An expert on the Secret Service yesterday said that, although the agents involved in the scandal were not breaking Colombian law, most of them are married and could have been exposed to blackmail.
“It could have resulted in a potential assassination attempt on the president,” said Ronald Kessler, author of “In the President’s Secret Service.”
“It the biggest scandal in the history of the Secret Service and the most basic breach of security,” the author said.
Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said that Obama’s security was not compromised because of the incident.
“This entire matter has been turned over to our Office of Professional Responsibility, which serves as the agency’s internal- affairs component,” he said.
None of the agents involved was directly assigned to protect the president. Donovan said the agents involved were relieved from duty and replaced.
But the scandal has made the United States the laughingstock of the important summit, as diplomats have been gossiping about hooker high jinx rather than focusing on Obama’s goals in the region.
“I had a breakfast meeting to discuss trade and drugs, but the only thing the other delegates wanted to talk about was the story of the agents and the hookers,” chuckled one Latin American diplomat.
Without mentioning the Secret Service scandal specifically, Obama — who arrived in Cartagena on Friday — blasted “flashy” coverage of the controversy.