US president Barack Obama has confidence in secret service director Mark Sullivan and believes he acted swiftly to deal with a scandal in Colombia where agents were alleged to have engaged in misconduct involving prostitutes, the White House said yesterday.
Eleven secret service agents were placed on administrative leave following the incident at a hotel in Cartagena, Colombia, which marred Obama’s weekend trip there for a regional summit and raised questions about the agency’s culture. “The president has confidence in director Sullivan,” Mr Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. “The director acted swiftly in response to this incident and is overseeing an investigation.” Mr Carney said he had not discussed with Mr Obama any concerns that the US public might lose faith in the agency – whose main duty is protecting the president and his family – and declined to speculate on any conclusions the inquiry might reach.
He said Mr Obama had not set a timeframe for the investigation and was instead more interested that it be done thoroughly and efficiently. The secret service said on Monday it had revoked the top security clearance of 11 agents and uniformed division personnel over alleged misbehaviour in Colombia. – (Reuters)