Lawmaker suggests 'improper' White House link to Secret Service scandal

A Republican congressman investigating the Secret Service prostitution scandal said on Tuesday the 12th military member now involved is "too close to the president," as he is assigned to the White House.

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which may hold hearings on the scandal, said he has been briefed by committee staff members. “First it was Secret Service,” he said on Fox News on Monday, “now it looks like there may be some activity by White House staff and then unfortunately, it looks like there may be some military involved, too.”

According to Nextgov, officials said Monday that a member of the U.S. military assigned to the White House Communications Agency is under investigation for misconduct in Colombia, bringing to 12 the number of military members being reviewed. The White House said it conducted its own internal review. "There is no indication of any misconduct by any member of the White House advance team or staff," spokesman Jay Carney said.

On Tuesday, Mica told Fox & Friends, "If someone did wrong here, too, and was close to the president, and part of the communications team, it's totally improper."

Mica had previously accused the White House of having knowledge of the GSA scandal but doing nothing about it, and on Tuesday attempted to link it to the Secret Service scandal. “We're sort of jumping from scandal to scandal,” he said. “The GSA scandal last week. This week, the White House possible involvement in some of the prostitution activities and that would be very unfortunate especially if it's somebody at that high level, and also it may be where the president was located and that's also troubling.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has also written a letter to the White House asking for details of the administration's review.