Prostitution scandal: US Secret Service tries image repair
The US Secret Service, disgraced by a prostitution scandal, Friday promulgated a set of new conduct guidelines for its agents, as it emerged that agents had in 2000 visited a Moscow nightclub known for raucous parties.
The Wall Street Journal reported that US Secret Service agents had visited a downtown Moscow nightclub known for raucous parties in 2000, ahead of a state visit to Russia by then president Bill Clinton.
The latest revelation follows reports of US Secret Service members visiting prostitutes in Colombia during current President Barack Obama's visit for an Americas summit earlier this month, reported RIA Novosti.
Secret Service staff and White House advance staff preparing for Clinton's state visit to Russia attended events at the Hungry Duck nightclub, the daily said citing informed source. A Clinton spokesman declined to comment on the matter.
The Hungry Duck, which opened in the mid-1990s in Moscow, featured performances by strippers and patrons, it reported.
It was set up by a Canadian, Doug Steele, together with several partners from Georgia. They sold their interest in 1998 following a dispute with a number of influential Russian officials. The nightclub closed down for good in 2009.
As many as 920 women supposedly once took part in a mass striptease at the Hungry Duck.
In the latest case related to President Obama's visit to Colombia for the Americas summit, as many as 12 Secret Service agents as well as 12 military members of the delegation were suspended from their duties and sent home for "inappropriate behaviour".
The agents allegedly visited a strip club there and some brought prostitutes back to their hotel rooms, the newspaper said.
Following the Colombia scandal, there are now new guidelines.
These will apply to agents even when they are off duty, prohibit them from drinking alcohol within 10 hours of working and visiting "non-reputable establishments", Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said in a statement.
The Secret Service agents, tasked with protecting the president, are also required to attend standard-of-conduct briefings upon entering a country, where the US ambassador may impose "country-specific rules", it added.
The agents should abide by the US laws even when they are travelling abroad, and receive ethics training before they are allowed to make foreign trips, reported Xinhua on the new guidelines.
Mark Sullivan, director of the Secret Service, also urged his employees to reflect on their own conduct through the scandal that occurred in Cartagena, Colombia, ahead of Obama's visit.
"All employees have a continuing obligation to confront expected abuses or perceived misconduct," Sullivan said.
The promulgation of the new behaviour guidelines is regarded as an attempt by the Secret Service to remedy the damages to its image after the prostitution scandal in Cartagena, which has aroused widespread criticism and scrutiny from the US Congress.
The sex scandal was exposed April 12 when Cartagena police intervened in a dispute over payment between a prostitute and a Secret Service agent at a local hotel. The agent was one of the US advance team to prepare for Obama's visit to the city.
So far, eight Secret Service officers have been forced out, and three others are facing administrative discipline. Another dozen military personnel have also been disciplined by the defense department for similar misconduct.
--IANS/RIA Novosti
sd/vt
Comments
More Russia News
RSS-
Russian judoka commits suicide
Russian judo champion Elena Ivashchenko committed suicide because of her failure during the London Olympics. Russian judo officials said Monday that Elena Ivashchenko, 28, a four-time European champion (in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012), jumped from a 15th floor in the Siberian city of Tyumen, Saturday, reports Xinhua. "Her depression started after her defeat at the Olympic Games. She really punished ...
-
Defiant Putin torpedoes G-8 efforts to urge Assad to leave power
Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama wave during a group photo opportunity during the G-8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Lefteris ...
-
Russia urges West to soften Iran sanctions
Russia Tuesday urged the West to consider relaxing sanctions against Iran, saying there was unprecedented hope of a breakthrough in the nuclear standoff ...
-
Diplomats Discuss Future of OSCE at Conference
VIENNA - Diplomats at a conference organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe all agreed Tuesday that international organizations were vital in helping to overcome the Cold War spirit that still besets relations across the East-West divide, but they were unable to provide any clear answers to the issues on the ...
-
US Russia to install “cyber-hotline” to prevent accidental cyberwar
As leaked details of ongoing network surveillance and espionage programs by the National Security Agency (NSA) continue to stir up international concern about how deep US intelligence is reaching into IT operations worldwide, Russia and the US have taken steps to cooperate on cyber-security--or at least prevent an accidental cyber-war. During talks at the G-8 Summit in Enniskillen, Northern ...
-
Russia ramps up oil exports to China in strategic shift
An employee talks on a portable radio set near a complex producing aromatic hydrocarbons at the Bashneft - Ufaneftekhim refinery in the city of Ufa, Russia, on April 11, 2013. Russian oil exports to China will increase this quarter, as Russia shifts its strategy away from Europe. (SERGEI ...
-
Vladimir Putin may allow Assad to go if power vacuum in Syria is avoided
Vladimir Putin with G8 leaders. The Russian leader has agreed to let President Assad of Syria go on certain conditions. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/AFP/Getty ...
-
Bahrain Delegation Meets Deputy Russian Foreign Minister
Moscow, June 18. (BNA) - A Bahrain parliamentary delegation led by Mp Abdulrahman Boumajeed today met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Russian President's Envoy to the Middle East Mikhail Bogdanov and discussed regional and international developments. Talks focused on steps undertaken to implement the recommendations set by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), the ...
-
Obama and Putin Signal a More Businesslike Path
MOSCOW ...
-
Russian billionaires amazing $300M yacht calls at Port Everglades | Photos
Like a gold-plated visitor from Planet Money, a strange ship has arrived among us: a glittering $300 million mega-yacht that resembles a futuristic star cruiser, or Bond villian's seagoing lair. The "A," a 394-foot-long behemoth, boasts walls covered in white sting-ray hides or hand-stitched calf's leather, according to the Wall Street Journal. One can relax in chairs made ...
-
Russias Suhkoi jet delivers first Superjet to Mexicos Interjet
MEXICO CITY, June 18 | Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:13pm EDT MEXICO CITY, June 18 (Reuters) - Russian planemaker Sukhoi delivered its first Superjet 100 plane to Mexico's Interjet airline at the Paris Airshow, the Mexican company said on Tuesday. Another 19 aircraft from Russia's first post-Soviet civil plane project are due to be delivered in the coming months to Interjet, which is ...
-
British woman raped in Moscow nightclub run by bikers group
Russian police are investigating a British woman's claims that she was raped in a Moscow nightclub founded by the Night Wolves, the bikers' group that has strong ties to President Vladimir ...
-
Russia moves to same-sex adoption ban
Russian lawmakers have backed a bill that would place tough restrictions on adoption to countries where same-sex marriages are legal, following France's vote last month allowing such unions.The bill could ban people in over a dozen countries from adopting Russian orphans even if they are single, according to an amendment that passed in the key second reading in the Duma lower house of ...
-
Putin warns on arms for rebels
Barack Obama that the US was ready to arm the rebels despite Moscow's opposition.Mr Cameron said Assad had "blood on his hands" and insisted it was "unthinkable" the dictator could play any part in the nation's ...
-
G8 calls for urgent Syria peace talks despite Russia split
G8 leaders on Tuesday called for a peace conference on Syria to be held as soon as possible but deep divisions remained as Russia stood by its embattled Middle East ...
-
Russia evacuates thousands after blasts at army munitions store
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Some 6,000 people were evacuated in Russia's south-western Samara region on Tuesday after ammunition explosions shook a military training area, the Emergencies Ministry said. The ministry said five explosions initially took place at the site on Tuesday evening, triggering a fire that was still causing blasts hours later. Footage aired on Russia's state television ...
-
Russias purchase of French Mistral-class warship
Russia will base its French-made Mistral-class amphibious assault ships in the Far East ports of Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky when they enter service, a senior Defense Ministry official said in an ...
-
Russia frustrates G8’s Syria hopes
ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - G8 leaders struggled to find the ';common ground'; on Syria that had been hoped for by their British hosts, with the results of Tuesday's summit confirming the predictions of many ...
-
Russia Starts Delivering $1Bln Arms Package to Azerbaijan
Russia has fulfilled an order made by Azerbaijan in 2011-12 for military hardware worth up to $1 billion, Vedomosti reported Tuesday. The shipment consisted of 94 T-90S tanks, about 100 BMP-3 armored personnel carriers, 18 self-propelled Msta-S howitzers, 18 multiple launch rocket systems, 18 self-propelled cannons and six flame-throwing systems, the newspaper said, citing a source in the ...
-
Ammunition fire rages at Russian military base no injuries reported but 4000 evacuated
MOSCOW - Russia's emergency services say exploding ammunition at a military depot has set off a fire that in turn is causing more shells to explode. Emergency services spokesman Mikhail Metyolkin said no injuries have been reported, but about 4,000 people have been evacuated from villages around the Chapaevsk military depot in the Samara region of southern Russia. No cause has yet been ...
-
Video Harper praises shift in Russias attitude on Syria
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is praising the outcome of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, saying it was "very different" from what he expected. Harper says the countries, including Russia, are all on the same page about ...
-
U.S. Russia Agree to Cooperate on Cyber Nukes
By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 18, 2013 Cooperation at many levels will help to reduce misunderstandings between the United States and Russia, the leaders of both countries said after meetings in Northern Ireland yesterday. Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin agreed to cooperate on a number of different aspects of the bilateral relationship. The men ...
News from around our Network
Comments
No comments yet for this story
Have your say