April 26, 2012

Napolitano says prostitute scandal 'not part of the Secret Service way'

Conflicting portraits of the Secret Service took stage Wednesday on Capitol Hill, as senators challenged Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to reconcile the image of agents who protect the lives of America's president with the dozen officers and supervisors implicated in a humiliating prostitution scandal.

Napolitano told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the incident in Colombia involving as many as 20 women and a dozen military personnel appeared to be an isolated one. She said the agency's office of professional responsibility had not received any complaints in the past 21/2 years. She said investigators are reviewing earlier time periods as well.

"This behavior was not part of the Secret Service way of doing business," Napolitano testified. "We are going to make sure that standards and training, if they need to be tightened up they are tightened."

The White House said Wednesday that the conduct of the employees punished in the ongoing scandal was "inappropriate" and unacceptable for people representing the United States abroad.

At the hearing, committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., praised the Secret Service as "wise, very professional men and women," and called it shocking that so many of the agency's employees were involved in the scandal.

"It really was, I think, a huge disappointment to the men and women of the Secret Service to begin with, who uphold very high standards and who feel their own reputations are now besmirched by the actions of a few," Napolitano said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., pressed Napolitano about whether she believes this was the first incident involving prostitutes and the Secret Service.

"The only reason I suggest that we need to maybe look at little harder is because we're lucky to have found out about this. If there hadn't been an argument between one of the agents and, I guess, a prostitute, for lack of a better word, about money, we'd probably have never known about this."

Napolitano said while she is not aware of a broader culture problem at the Secret Service, Director Mark Sullivan and his investigators are looking into it.

"What the director is doing is reviewing training, supervision, going back and talking to other agents, really trying to ferret out if this is a systemic problem," Napolitano said. "If it is, that would be a surprise to me."

Napolitano also said the government is also reviewing training rules for Secret Service employees to make clear what behavior is acceptable and what's unacceptable.

"The training is focused on professionalism, on conduct consistent with the highest moral values and standards," she said.

Graham told Napolitano that the Secret Service officers and supervisors involved should have known their conduct was wrong: "I don't think it's a lack of training."

Wednesday was the first time Napolitano has faced public questioning from lawmakers since the scandal became public.

The Secret Service announced late Tuesday that all 12 implicated officers had been dealt with: eight forced out, one stripped of his security clearance and three cleared of wrongdoing, all within two weeks of the night in question.

Napolitano pointed to that swift action as evidence that incident is being taken seriously.

"We will not allow the actions of a few to tarnish the proud legacy of the Secret Service," Napolitano said.

She said the Homeland Security inspector general is also supervising the investigation and using "the investigatory resources of the Secret Service." She added add that she expected the inspector general to do a complete investigation.

The scandal erupted after a fight over payment between a Colombian prostitute and a Secret Service employee spilled into the hallway of the Hotel Caribe ahead of President Barack Obama's arrival at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena. A dozen military personnel have also been implicated, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said they have had their security clearances suspended.

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