The US Secret Service, one of the most elite, selective and discreet law enforcement agencies in the country, is charged with the protection of current or former leaders and their families. In recent years, its image has been tarnished by episodes of misbehavior by agents, ranging from drinking to soliciting prostitutes:
April 2017
An off-duty agent assigned to Vice President Mike Pence’s detail was suspended amid accusations of meeting a prostitute at a Maryland hotel, multiple law enforcement sources told CNN.
2015
Secret Service officer Lee Robert Moore was fired after Delaware State Police arrested him in a child predator sting. He was caught sending naked pictures of himself to a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl. In March 2017, Moore pleaded guilty in a Florida court to one count of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and for attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor.
2014
Three Secret Service agents were sent back to the US after a night of drinking in Amsterdam. One of them was found passed out in the hallway of his hotel and was reprimanded along with two other agents who were his drinking companions. The agents were part of a detail in the Netherlands ahead of then-President Barack Obama’s visit.
2012
Nine agents left or lost their jobs as the result of a prostitution scandal in Colombia. Several agents were there ahead of then-President Barack Obama’s trip to attend the Summit of the Americas. The agents hit the clubs of Cartagena for a night of drinking that ended with them bringing women back to their hotel rooms. One of the women asked for money but an agent refused to pay her, leading to local police getting involved and the incident making international headlines.
