The allegations about Secret Service misconduct get worse by the day. The latest charge is that the number of prostitutes involved with agents and military personnel during a night of carousing in Cartegena, Colombia last week may have reached 21.
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The incident became part of the presidential campaign Wednesday when Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney condemned the alleged misbehavior.
"I'd clean house," he told radio host Laura Ingraham. "The right thing to do is to remove people who have violated the public trust and have put their play time and their personal interests ahead of the interests of the nation."
The episode, which occurred just before President Obama arrived in Cartagena for an international conference, has embarrassed the Secret Service and the military, and prompted several government and media investigations.
About 11 agents and 10 military personnel were involved, according to federal investigators. Some of them had apparently been drinking heavily that night.
One concern of Congress members looking into the matter is that security may have been compromised. For example, if the women placed listening devices with the agents or learned information about the president's whereabouts in Cartegena. Another concern is blackmail, investigators said.
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