President Obama said Sunday that he wants the investigation of the prostitution scandal that led 11 U.S. Secret Service agents to be returned home from Cartagena, Colombia, where they had been sent to provide protection for him, to be thorough and rigorous. Obama was asked about the matter by a reporter in his joint news conference with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
– The Summit of the Americas is over, but the prostitution scandal involving Secret Service agents keeps on going, overshadowing what was supposed to be a chance to showcase Colombia to the international community, reports Reuters. "From nearly failed state to emerging global player—in less than a decade" is what Time called Colombia on its latest cover. But because of the scandal, the old Colombia is being broadcast around the world. "The only media coverage of the summit is the scandal of the gringos and the prostitutes," said one Colombian diplomat. "How shameful." As for President Obama, he finally weighed in on the scandal yesterday, calling for a thorough and rigorous investigation into what happened, reports the Washington Post. While defending the Secret Service in general, Obama said if allegations about misconduct prove to be accurate, “then, of course, I'll be angry," he said. That investigation will be expanded beyond Colombia to look at longer patterns of behavior in the Secret Service, said Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of a House panel on government oversight. "Things like this don't happen once if they didn't happen before," said Issa.