Did White House Cover Up Prostitution Scandal Link?

The Secret Service found itself under the microscope after reported agent sexcapades in Cartagena, Colombia, in 2012. But government documents and interviews unearthed by the Washington Post are now not only identifying a White House advance-team member who also allegedly took part in "after-hours" activities—they also appear to back up claims that senior White House aides were told about this team member, a volunteer at the time, and didn't do a heck of a lot about it. The volunteer, since identified as Jonathan Dach, has categorically denied engaging with a prostitute or bringing someone back to the Cartagena Hilton and is now working full-time for the administration as a women's issues adviser. The Secret Service—which saw about two dozen agents fired or punished because of the scandal—reportedly showed White House officials (including Kathryn Ruemmler, the government's counsel at the time) evidence that Dach had brought someone up to his room, but those findings were said to be dismissed.

White House officials say they conducted interviews with Dach and "concluded that he had done nothing wrong"; they also told the Post earlier this year that a) Dach was just a volunteer at the time, not an employee, and b) prostitution is legal in Cartagena. Other allegations are being made by a leading Homeland Security investigator, who was tasked with looking into the scandal: David Nieland says his office found more evidence about Dach's supposed dalliance, but "we were directed at the time ... to delay the report of the investigation until after the 2012 election." Press secretary Josh Earnest attempted to pooh-pooh the Post's reporting with a tweet last night stating that this "supposed WaPo 'exclusive'" had already been discussed by the AP and other media two years ago—though in the cited AP story, the acting inspector general at the time "acknowledged that his investigators did not pursue information about the activities of the White House worker." Read the full article for more details. (More White House stories.)