New developments in Secret Service scandal

The Columbian prostitution scandal from last spring, the biggest scandal to hit the Secret Service, according to Go News, is in the news once again. In addition to the thirteen employees of the USSS, entangled in the misconduct, there is now word from the lead federal investigator into the scandal that White House personnel may have been involved, despite contradictory claims made by the administration, as reported by Fox News.

Acting inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, Charles Edwards, said in a letter to Senator Susan Collins that his office's investigation into the April incident found "a hotel registry that suggests that two (non-secret service) personnel may have had contact with foreign nationals. Edwards wrote that one of the employees was a Defense Department employee "affiliated" with the White House Communications Agency. He said the other "may have been" affiliated with the White House advance team.

Standing by the original claims of the Obama administration, a senior administration official said the member of the advance team was a "volunteer" as opposed to a White House employee. The official went on to say the volunteer was wrongly implicated, based on inaccurate hotel records.

On Friday the White House denied the claims. Edwards wrote that his office did not pursue those leads "because they are not DHS personnel".

There are so many interesting aspects to this story. It is surprising that this information didn't leak out much earlier. It is also noteworthy to mention that Edwards' letter came two days after a FoxNews.com report revealed possible White house advance team involvement.

Another interesting and even amusing tidbit is that this entire scandal may have been easily prevented. While five of the women involved in the scandal were paid, four of the woman who asked for money were not paid. Police arrived on the scene after one of these women complained.

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