Ken Lambert/AP file photo
It turns out the Colombian sex scandal rocking the Secret Service isn't as novel as we all thought. With two more agents resigning from the the service on Tuesday, voices are starting to come out of the woodwork to deliver a message: This type of behavior is hardly unprecedented for U.S. government employees.
The most recent example comes from The Associated Press' Lolita C. Baldor last night, involving three marines working a U.S. Embassy security detail with an embassy official in December. In a situation that sounds remarkably similar to this month's fiasco, the AP says the officials were "punished for allegedly pushing a prostitute out of a car in Brasilia late last year after a dispute over payment." Unfortunately for the prostitute in this case, she didn't walk away unscathed—a defense official says she broke her collarbone when she was pushed out of the car. In wake of the Colombia scandal, officials tell the AP she has lawyered up and is suing the Embassy. But even this doesn't seem to be an isolated incident.
The Washington Post's Carol Leonnig and David Nakamura speak with a number of agents not implicated in this month's scandal who say this type of thing has gone on for years. “Of course it has happened before” an agent says. “This is not the first time. It really only blew up in this case because the [U.S. Embassy] was alerted.” Agents pointed to an incident in 2009, when the Secret Service detail covering former President Bill Clinton had a wild night. "During that trip, the agents said, members of the detail went out for a late night of partying at strip clubs," reports The Post. An agent adds, “You take a bunch of guys out of the country and have a lot of women showering them with attention, bad things are bound to happen."