"There are 21 agencies involved. Twenty or 21 foreign women were taken to the hotel, but the Marines allegedly involved with others," said Senator Susan Collins of Maine. He received an explanation of the Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, according to an e-mail to Reuters.
"Director Sullivan was shocked by the actions of the agent, and encourage internal investigation," said Collins, a senior Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee. "He ordered all agencies to get back to Washington, and all of them have been checked."
Further details are tarnishing a weekend trip to the summit of President Barack Obama's America in Cartagena, Colombia, sticking on Tuesday.
Marine Corps spokesman said the two dogs holder Marines assigned to support the Secret Service is being examined to determine if they were involved in persuading women prostitutes.
The spokesman, Capt. Kevin Schultz, said the Marines were on duty as a member of an advance team and was involved in direct contact with Obama.
Secret Service has a high security clearance revoked for 11 agents and putting them in a position of administrative leave due to these events.
The agent brings female sex workers to their hotel in Cartagena beach, before Obama arrived to attend the summit, said a local political source. A U.S. official told Reuters more than 10 members of the Military Secret Service also may have been involved.
"The president believes the Director Sullivan," said Obama spokesman Jay Carney. "Director (Sullivan) to act quickly in response to this incident and was watching the investigation."
Another lawmaker who spoke to Sullivan, Peter King, said investigators in Colombia were interviewed all the women involved. They had left the tag on the hotel front desk, said King told Reuters.
"So far there is no information that any of them are involved with narco-terrorist groups or organized crime. Also there is no indication that the women are looking for men," he said. He was responding to concerns that the agency may have been framed by someone with the intention that harms them.
King said, he learned that each of the 11 agencies that brought a woman to his room. "Some of (the agent) said they did not regard her as a prostitute," she said.
King, a Republican who heads the House Homeland Security Committee, said he has not decided whether to hold a hearing on the incident. He said he had never seen such an act carried out by Secret Service agents before.
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