Secret Service Agents Sent Home Over Prostitution Scandal

Up to a dozen US Secret Service agents have been sent home from Colombia, where they were supposed to be providing security for President Obama at the Summit of the Americas, but instead were involved in "misconduct" with prostitutes, reports the Washington Post. Officially, the agency is mum about the details of the accused misconduct, saying only that it took place before Obama arrived yesterday and that the “Secret Service takes all allegations of misconduct seriously.”

But at least one agent was accused of involvement with prostitutes, said the president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. He called it “a very serious allegation” and said the agency “needs to properly investigate and fairly ascertain the merits of the allegations.” (The AP has the story separately.) Although prostitution can be legal in Colombia, the Secret Service bans agents from soliciting for prostitutes. (More Colombia stories.)