Logs detail serious allegations against Secret Service agents over a decade

GlobalPost

Secret Service agents have been accused of sexual abuse, domestic violence, being drunk on duty, publishing pornography and soliciting prostitutes, according to a log of allegations released by the Homeland Security Department.

The 229-page log, released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests, detail — with extensive redactions — allegations of improper conduct made against Secret Service employees during the past decade, according to Bloomberg.

The FOI requests from news organizations were made after agents were accused of bringing prostitutes back to their hotels from strip clubs in Cartagena, Colombia ahead of President Barack Obama's arrival for an American leaders' summit in April.

Prostitution is legal in Colombia but, Voice of America points out, "off-limits for US government employees because of possible security risks."

The Pentagon is investigating those allegedly involved in the Cartagena incident. 

Log entries reported by various media outlets include:

  • a Secret Service employee saying that during a work trip another employee pushed her onto a bed, got on top of her and tried to engage in sex, despite her telling the agent "no" several times. 
  • an allegation that an agent forced a female acquaintance to have non-consensual sex with him at a hotel in Killeen, Texas. 
  • a description of a "detail leader" who appeared under the influence of alcohol when he was supposed to be protecting the president of the Dominican Republic during a 2005 US visit.
  • the arrest in 2008 of an on-duty Secret Service officer in Washington, DC in a prostitution raid.  

Some of the accusations occurred as recently as last month.

Details of disciplinary action taken, if any, are often vague or redacted and much of it appeared to have been handled at an administrative level.

Fox News cited a statement from the Secret Service all allegations of employee misconduct are "taken seriously and fully investigated."

However, the released logs detailed reports received by the agency’s inspector general that in some way either mentions or refers to the Secret Service, and that "the vast majority did not involve alleged misconduct by Secret Service agents or officers."

Meanwhile, the director of the Secret Service, Mark Sullivan, said last month at a Senate hearing that what unfolded in Colombia wasn't a "systemic issue."

Sullivan also apologized for the behavior of the agents involved.

"I have tried to figure this out between the alcohol, the environment, these individuals did some really dumb things," Sullivan said, VOA reported.

More from GlobalPost: Secret Service sex scandal hearing: Director grilled over Colombia exploits

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