State Department officials covered up accusations of assault, prostitution: report
At least eight specific instances of serious misconduct perpetrated by employees of the department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), which protects State Department officials overseas, were cited in a memo obtained by CBS News. In many cases, investigations never followed the accusations.
By Adam Edelman AND Daniel Beekman / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, June 10, 2013, 12:07 PM
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The report alleges that several members of the security team of former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “engaged prostitutes while on
officials trips in foreign countries.”
The State Department may have tried to cover up shocking allegations of
sexual misconduct and other outrageous wrongdoing by employees,
according to a memo leaked Monday.
The memo, written by the department’s Inspector General’s Office and obtained by CBS News, cites eight specific investigations that were supposedly dropped or whitewashed because of pressure from higherups.
RELATED: SECRET SERVICE AGENT BREAKS SILENCE IN COLOMBIA SEX SCANDAL
One involved allegations that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s security detail “engaged prostitutes while on official trips in foreign countries” and that the problem was “endemic.”
Yet another involved allegations that an ambassador who “routinely ditched” his security detail was suspected of doing so to “solicit sexual favors from prostitutes” in a public park.
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Those allegations led the ambassador to be recalled to Washington to meet with Patrick Kennedy, the undersecretary of state for management, CBS News reported, citing anonymous sources. The ambassador was ultimately allowed to return to his post.
The memo also mentions allegations that a State Department security official in Beirut “engaged in sexual assaults” on foreign nationals hired as embassy guards. In another case, the report noted that an “underground drug ring” operated near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and supplied the embassy’s security contractors with drugs, CBS News reported.
RELATED: MEET THE WHISLEBLOWER BEHIND THE GOVERNMENT'S SURVEILLANCE
State Department aide Jen Psaki said the agency is reviewing how the allegations were handled. But she said the idea “that we would not vigorously pursue criminal misconduct . . . is preposterous.”
The memo leaked to CBS News is the latest controversy to swirl around the Statement Department and its operations under the watch of Hillary Clinton, who stepped down in February.
RELATED: VERIZON GIVING FEDS PHONE RECORDS OF EVERY US CUSTOMER
Clinton has come under fire for the deadly 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, and further State Department scandals could hurt her if she runs for President in 2016.
The memo describes investigators from the Diplomatic Security Service, the security arm for the State Department, being told to back off cases, the CBS News report said.
Watch this video: Did U.S. State Dept. cover up wrongdoing, prostitution cases? http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=90051&sitesection=nydailynews_nws_pol_sty_pp&VID=24872861
The memo, written by the department’s Inspector General’s Office and obtained by CBS News, cites eight specific investigations that were supposedly dropped or whitewashed because of pressure from higherups.
RELATED: SECRET SERVICE AGENT BREAKS SILENCE IN COLOMBIA SEX SCANDAL
One involved allegations that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s security detail “engaged prostitutes while on official trips in foreign countries” and that the problem was “endemic.”
Yet another involved allegations that an ambassador who “routinely ditched” his security detail was suspected of doing so to “solicit sexual favors from prostitutes” in a public park.
RELATED: FIRST FEMALE SECRET SERVICE HEAD SWORN IN
Those allegations led the ambassador to be recalled to Washington to meet with Patrick Kennedy, the undersecretary of state for management, CBS News reported, citing anonymous sources. The ambassador was ultimately allowed to return to his post.
The memo also mentions allegations that a State Department security official in Beirut “engaged in sexual assaults” on foreign nationals hired as embassy guards. In another case, the report noted that an “underground drug ring” operated near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and supplied the embassy’s security contractors with drugs, CBS News reported.
RELATED: MEET THE WHISLEBLOWER BEHIND THE GOVERNMENT'S SURVEILLANCE
State Department aide Jen Psaki said the agency is reviewing how the allegations were handled. But she said the idea “that we would not vigorously pursue criminal misconduct . . . is preposterous.”
The memo leaked to CBS News is the latest controversy to swirl around the Statement Department and its operations under the watch of Hillary Clinton, who stepped down in February.
RELATED: VERIZON GIVING FEDS PHONE RECORDS OF EVERY US CUSTOMER
Clinton has come under fire for the deadly 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, and further State Department scandals could hurt her if she runs for President in 2016.
The memo describes investigators from the Diplomatic Security Service, the security arm for the State Department, being told to back off cases, the CBS News report said.
Watch this video: Did U.S. State Dept. cover up wrongdoing, prostitution cases? http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=90051&sitesection=nydailynews_nws_pol_sty_pp&VID=24872861
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