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Twelve members of the secret service that were assigned to protect President Obama while attending a summit in Cartagena, Colombia were sent home with allegations of misconduct including prostitution. (CBS News)
(AP) CARTAGENA, Colombia – An embarrassing scandal involving prostitutes and Secret Service agents deepened Saturday as 11 agents were placed on leave, and the agency designed to protect President Barack Obama had to offer regret for the mess overshadowing his diplomatic mission to Latin America.
The controversy also expanded to the U.S. military, which announced five service members staying at the same hotel as the agents in Colombia may have been involved in misconduct as well. They were confined to their quarters in Colombia and ordered not to have contact with others.
All the alleged activities took place before Obama arrived Friday in this Colombian port city for meetings with 33 other regional leaders.
Put together, the allegations were an embarrassment for an American president on foreign soil and threatened to upend White House efforts to keep his trip focused squarely on boosting economic ties with fast-growing Latin America. Obama was holding two days of meetings at the Summit of the Americas with leaders from across the vast region before heading back to Washington Sunday night.