By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Thursday, October 9, U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R) from Alabama released a statement to Facebook about revelations that in 2012 a member of the White House staff was a participant in the Colombian prostitute scandal that left Secret Service and military men punished while his own role in the scandal was possibly covered up by his powerful friends in the Obama White House.
Congressman Byrne said in a statement, “So let me get this straight: the White House knew that one of their volunteers hired a prostitute, but they covered it up, threatened those who tried to draw attention to it, and recently gave the volunteer a full-time job in the Office on Global Women’s Issues. To make matters worse, the volunteer’s father was a big-time Obama campaign donor. This kind of practice is far too common in what was supposed to be the “most transparent administration” ever.”
Almost two dozen Secret Service agents and American soldiers and Marines were punished or fired when it was discovered in 2012 that they had young ladies of questionable character in their hotel rooms while part of a Presidential advance team in Colombia.
The Obama administration repeatedly denied that anyone from the White House staff was involved in any of the misconduct. The questionable sleeping arrangements were exposed when a young woman was locked out of the rooms allegedly over a disagreement about the amount of her compensation. The angry young lady then created such a commotion that hotel security and the local police became involved. This incident quickly went public in the South American tabloids and the scandal rapidly overshadowed the President’s visit to the South American Country.
According to original reporting from the Washington Post’s Carol D. Leonnig and David Nakamura new details drawn from government documents and interviews show that an alleged prostitute stayed overnight with a presidential advance-team member. Unlike the Secret Service and Military members however that information was never thoroughly investigated or admitted publicly and in fact was denied by the Obama administration at the time.
The Secret Service shared its information with White House officials, including then-White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler. They interviewed the advance-team member and concluded that he had done nothing wrong.
Investigators in the inspector general’s office of the Department of Homeland Security however conducted a separate investigation and found additional evidence from records and eyewitnesses who had accompanied that team member on the Colombia trip. Critics of the Obama Administration have accused them of not always being truthful; whether it is over ATF gunrunning, the Benghazi cover story, the IRS scandal they suggest there are numerous examples of this administration not always being entirely open and honest with either the American people or the Congress.
Congressman Bradley Byrne represents Alabama’s First Congressional District.
