It appeared that the Secret Service were back toeing the line after that highly embarrassing incident in April, which saw agents losing their jobs after a wild night of partying with Colombian prostitutes.
But that, perhaps, was just wishful thinking as another humiliating incident has reared its ugly head.
On Thursday, just hours after President Obama left Miami, one of his Secret Service agents was found passed out on a Miami sidewalk and arrested.
CBS Miami reported that Aaron Francis Engler was found early Friday morning by a Miami police officer and when they try to wake him from his drunken slumber, he got belligerent — hitting the cop on the chin. Other officers were called to help restrain him.
Engler allegedly hit the bottle after the President left Miami, but the arrest prevented him from leaving town for another assignment Friday morning, the sources said told the station
He was charged with two misdemeanors, disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest without violence.
The Secret Service sex scandal has taken an unusual turn with four of the agents who were fired in the wake of the debacle, fighting their dismissals based on the claim that they have been made scapegoats for behavior that had always been tolerated in the past.
They say that the alleged misconduct is nothing new within the Secret Service.
According to The Washington Post, the men are arguing that they did not pay for sex, while others are claiming that they did not know the women were prostitutes.
The men claim that the rowdy behavior is said to have been known inside the agency as the “secret circus,” referring to what happened anytime a large group of agents descended on a city.
Last month, former Secret Service Director Brian Stafford told CBS News the Cartagena incident painted a much different picture.
“I have never heard the words agent and prostitute mentioned in the same sentence until this saga unfolded,” he said.
The news come as today the agency’s director plans to tell Congress that the scandal did not endanger President Obama and was an isolated incident.
Meanwhile, the married agent who set off the scandal due to his cheapskate ways, has been revealed as multiple cheater.
Following the naming and shaming of Arthur Huntington as the operative who try to pay Colombian prostitute Dania Londoño Suárez just $28 instead of her $800 fee, more and more women have come out of the woodwork claiming they have had affairs with the married agent.
First a Canadian women came forward to give details of a two-day affair she had with the agent just last year.
Now two more women are claiming that they bedded the father-of-two behind his wife’s back.
The New York Daily News reports that his extramarital conquests are said to have begun during the administration of George W. Bush.
The two affairs took place in 2007 and 2008, and while one of the women knew of his marital status, Huntington wasn’t entirely honest about his situation.
Kelly Scruggs, whom Huntington cruelly blew off after being introduced to her mother, said she has no sympathy for the philandering fed who broke her heart in 2008.
“I don’t feel sorry for (him). I think he’s a total creep now,” the blond-haired, blue-eyed Southern beauty told the Daily News. “A total jerk.”
Scruggs, 33, of Marlin, Texas, became the second woman to tell The News about Huntington’s cheating while on the road protecting the President — both before his party-hearty trip to Colombia.
She was quickly joined by a third: Holly Snow, 41, who met the horny Huntington on the day of Jenna Bush’s May 2008 wedding, around the time of his break-up with Scruggs.
Huntington picked up both in the same Waco, Texas, club about a year apart. And Snow learned during their affair that he kept women “in all 50 states.”
So much for being the dedicated, loyal family man who was active in his local parish, which was how he was portrayed by those who knew him when his identity was first revealed.
“It’s out of character — the Arthur I know, he’s very dedicated to the family, very loyal,” said Teresita Rodriguez, 65, who along with her husband Jose has known Huntington since he was a child.
What do you think of the whole secret service debacle and do you think the men have a right to fight against their dismissals?
It’s the interview everyone has been wanting to hear, and today, Dania Londoño Suárez, the Colombian prostitute who sparked off the most embarrassing scandal in the Secret Service history after agent Arthur Huntington refused to pay her full fee, has spoken for the first time about what exactly occurred that night.
In a televised Colombian radio call-in show, Suárez said that Huntington and the other agents at a Cartagena disco were “acting crazy.”
“They were drinking alcohol like it was water. They were really drunk,” she said.
And in an astonishing admission, she revealed that Huntington was so drunk that he passed out, leaving his secret service files opened.
“If I was a terrorist I would have been able to do a thousand things,” she said, adding that she “absolutely” could have stolen the papers if she wanted.
She said that Huntington, a married father of two, did not appear to be looking for a call girl but that he enjoyed it when she rubbed her hands on his body as they danced.
“He was a very clumsy dancer,” she said.
The 24-year-old went on to reveal that she and more than 20 hookers followed the Americans back to their rooms at the Hotel Caribe, but that none of the girls knew that they were Secret Service agents.
When asked if she and Huntington had sex, she wouldn’t elaborate saying: “If I answer this, you will know what happened.
However, Suarez, who is said to be looking to dish all the dirt for a reported $400,000, added coyly: “If they pay me, I will tell.”
The mother-of-one did shed some light on the fight that provoked the unraveling of the Secret Service’s dirty business.
Huntington offered to pay her a measly $28 instead of her $800 fee, and she revealed exactly what went down.
“[He\] did not feel he got what he was being asked to pay for,” she said.
Suarez then ran into the hotel hallway and caused a disturbance that sent local cops running. “He told me ‘Let’s go, b—-.’”
She said the agents pleaded, “Please, please, no police, no police” — but it was too late.
She also defended her profession, which is legal in Colombia.
“I don’t need forgiveness from anybody, only God, my mother and my son,” said Suarez, who said her job allowed her to send her child to a private school.
“The only thing I wanted was for people to hear my story and hear who I am,” she said. “I’m a sensitive woman and everything that happened has affected me greatly.”
Nearly two weeks in, there are no signs of the scandal, that has engulfed the American Secret Service, of abating.
In fact, instead, it is getting bigger by the day as it emerges the antics of the agents visiting Cartagena, Colombia wasn’t a one-off.
Firstly, Colombia’s ambassador to the U.S. calls the media coverage “superficial, sensationalist and unfair,” and is asking the White House for a new apology. The State Department says the president and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did both apologize when they were in Colombia.
Now, it is emerging that the dispute over the payment of escort Dania Londono Suarez in Colombia, which sparked the controversy, has now ignited a new round of revelations, stretching to other countries.
Two weeks after the incident in Cartagena, the Secret Service is working to quickly wrap up that portion of the scandal, but the U.S. government is investigating reports of unprofessional behavior and rule-breaking by agents in four countries, going back 12 years.
On Capitol Hill, there are growing demands for an outside agency to take over the probe.
Seattle CBS affiliate KIRO-TV reported Thursday that Secret Service agents visited a strip club in El Salvador — by the vanload — in advance of President Obama’s trip there in March 2011.
The Secret Service is looking into that report. The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal have reported that Secret Service personnel traveling in 2009 with former President Clinton partied at strip clubs on a visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and that agents and White House staffers went to a Moscow night club known for its sexually charged atmosphere prior to Mr. Clinton’s trip to Russia in 2000.
A Secret Service spokeswoman called those accusations just “rumors.”
The new allegations come soon after a hearing Wednesday in which senators were assured that the Colombia scandal was an isolated incident.
“That’s why we need thorough investigation not just by the White House, not just by DHS (Department of Homeland Security), but by Congress; that’s part of our oversight responsibilities,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “It’s an obligation we owe the American people.
Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said the agency was taking a preliminary look into the new reports. “Any information brought to our attention that can be assessed as credible will be followed up on in an appropriate manner,” he said in a statement.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the president won’t pass judgment on whether there’s a pattern of misbehavior at the Secret Service until all investigations have been completed.
“When we travel abroad on official trips,” Carney said, “we are representing the people of this country, and we should do so by conducting ourselves in an appropriate manner.”
She unwittingly thrust the Secret Service into the spotlight and left the government red-faced after it emerged that 11 agents spent a wild night out in Colombia with prostitutes.
Now, Dania Londono Suarez, the woman who caused the furore after one agent refused to pay up, could be ready to tell all, in what would only cause more embarrassment for those involved.
Her lawyer, Marlon Betancourt, is said to negotiating interviews with her with various media outlets for money.
It certainly would be an eye-opening, must-see interview.
This news comes on the back of reports that the scandal, which exploded into the public domain a little more than a week ago, continues to grow with another agent been thrown into the mix.
Six of the 11 agents implicated in the scandal are now out of a job, and the investigation is entering its second week amid new revelations about a prostitute being taken to a sensitive location.
“It just gets more troubling,” Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday.
Five nights before the president’s arrival, a twelfth Secret Service official, who was not previously under investigation, allegedly brought a prostitute to the Hilton Hotel in Cartegena, the hotel where the president later stayed.
“The key thing here is not that they were prostitutes,” Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “It’s the fact that foreign nationals were brought back into a security area on the eve of the trip of the president of the United States goes against everything the Secret Service stands for.”
Another interesting point of note, that this is probably not the first time that something like this occurred. More likely, it’s just the first time that the public has ever had any knowledge of the Secret Service’s wrongdoings.
Unfortunately, for the town of Cartagena, much attention has been brought upon them for all the wrong reasons. This region in Colombia will go down in history for the unraveling of the American Secret Service.
According to new reports, getting an escort in this town, if you have money, is like picking up the phone and calling room service.
Here’s some new facts coming out of Cartagena…
Underage prostitution is rampant in the sinful seaside city, where finding illicit companionship is literally a walk on the beach.
Visitors to Cartagena, including the agents and U.S. servicemen embroiled in the salacious scandal, simply have to visit one of its seedy shorelines, where they will almost certainly be approached by a “fixer.”
“Anything you need, amigo,” said one such carnal concierge, Ramon Morales, who slyly eyed nighttime strollers. “Beer, cigarettes, girls. I can get you girls.”
Morales said the Americans on President Obama’s advance team made quite a splash before the scandal broke.
“They were partying at the beach,” said Morales, 34, with a grin that was missing several teeth. “They were having a good time with the girls, drinking.”
Morales said extra ladies were ordered up like room service when those at the Pley Club weren’t enough to meet the Americans’ demands.
“They were tall and strong,” said Morales, 34. “Lots of muscle. We got a few cab drivers to bring them girls.”
Hookers can also be easily found in bars or clubs, sometimes with the establishment getting a cut of the john’s fee.
“There are many ways to find us,” said one woman, 21-year-old Rebecca, who worked at Angeles, a dingy bar in the city’s El Bosque neighborhood.
“The guys have to pay a fee to take us out of the bar,” she said. “We feel pretty safe.”
Hotel staffers also almost always turn a blind eye to the hookers that parade up to guests’ rooms.
“Americans are shocked that these guys took girls into their rooms, even if it’s fancy like Hotel Caribe,” said a Cartagena cop patrolling outside the hotel. “This is every day here.”
“There are so many ways to getting girls into the room,” said Alejandra, 24, who works at the Dolce Vita Hotel. “Some of us walk the beach at nights to meet guys. Or the cabs call us. The tourists come here for us.”
The Latin American summit, which drew dozens of world leaders and their entourages, was a particularly good time for business, according to sex workers.
“When the city has big events, they (the pimps) bring girls in buses to the city so they can walk around,” said Morales. “That way the town looks better, sexier. These (guys) knew that we could get them girls.”
Dania Londono Suarez, the high-class escort, who unwittingly triggered the Secret Service Sex Scandal, has fled her tiny two room in apartment in Cartagena.
As the Spanish media descended upon her modest home yesterday, when the photos of her hit the internet, they were told by relatives, that she had left with her 9-year-old son.
“We were told that she had gone to stay with relatives in another town, ” one told us.
Until now, in the American and British press, she had largely been refered to by her first name.
Even her neighbors in Cartagena were unaware of both her surname, and her profession. Though, some did suspect that she could have been an escort due to the fact she was “living well”.
A neighbor says that she has now fled to the country, and her lawyer, Marlon Betancourt, confirmed this morning that she was no longer in the city.
Dania Londano Suarez and another “friend” who was at Cartagena’s Hotel Caribe fled in wake of the media frenzy.
“They are outside the city but I can’t tell you where they are,” Marlon Betancourt said.
Photos of Suarez were made public on Thursday afternoon, and the 24-year-old already spoke, prior to going underground, that she feared a retaliation, saying she was “scared”.
Her lawyer stressed that Dania didn’t want the photos released.
“She is annoyed. She didn’t want that photo to be published but she is prepared to collaborate with the authorities to clear up the situation.They haven’t done anything wrong,” Betancourt said. “The media really abused [the photos].”
The news comes on the back of the heels that three more Secret Service officers involved on Colombia prostitution scandal are expected to be fired today. And, in what could be the most damaging suggestion yet, the congressional committee is investigating whether any of the females involved were underage.
The U.S. agents and military personnel involved could also face criminal charges if is proven that they had sex with girls under the age of 18.
Two of the 11 Secret Service supervisors have been named.
David Chaney was forced to retire over his alleged role in the incident, while Greg Stokes was “removed with cause”.
New images have emerged of Hillary Clinton knocking back beer and dancing at a Colombian nightclub.
The 64-year-old is seen in this series of photographs having the time of her life, with a grin from ear-to-ear at Cafe Havana in Cartagena on Saturday night.
Hillary, who was in South America for the Sixth Summit of the Americas, showed up at the popular Cuban bar about 12.45am with a group of friends and bodyguards.
According to the local newspaper, El Universal, Hillary and her group ordered 12 beers, two glasses of whiskey and bottles of water,
Cafe staff said she stayed for about 30 minutes and she got up and danced the rumba as the band played a series of Cuban tunes before her group left the venue, leaving a $40 tip.
Meanwhile, President Obama addressed those scandalous accusations about his secret service.
Over the weekend, he made his first remarks about allegations that Secret Service agents hired prostitutes, said he’ll be angry if they are proven true by an investigation. The agency sent 11 agents home, placing them on leave for misconduct.
