Secret Service Scandal Allegation: White House Politically Motivated To Delay Inquiry

The lead government investigator David Nieland says that political pressure delayed and may have impeded the investigation of the 2012 secret service prostitution scandal in Cartagena, Columbia. The new allegation is accompanied by information that a White House staffer purchased a Colombian prostitute. The new allegations could mean another headache for an administration that has established a long list of past scandals.

David Nieland was investigating the Secret Service for Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General’s office. According to the Washington Post, Nieland’s inquiry revealed that a White House volunteer, part of the advance-team for the presidential visit, housed a prostitute as an overnight guest.

Despite Nieland reporting this information to top aides in the Obama administration, it was never publicly admitted. According to the investigator, he was directed to delay the report.

“We were directed at the time.?.?. to delay the report of the investigation until after the 2012 election.”

He added that his superiors told him “to withhold and alter certain information in the report of investigation because it was potentially embarrassing to the administration.”

Nieland’s associate Gregory Stokes and CBS correspondent John Miller first called foul on the Obama administration in 2013.

Stokes said, “A man of high integrity, in my opinion, was placed on administrative leave for refusing to redact or omit portions of his original report to the satisfaction of the inspector general.”

However, a bipartisan Senate committee dismissed all charges of a cover-up, saying that there was not enough information to substantiate the claims. The White House also claims that no staffer was involved in the Secret Service scandal.

But if the allegations are true, the Secret Service may have taken all of the blame for something that was partially within the White House staff. Almost two dozen Secret Service members and military personnel were fired or punished for their involvement. A White House staff member, although implicated, was exonerated of all wrongdoing.

The allegation leaves a few questions open. Why would the administration go so far to cover-up for a lowly staff volunteer? What embarrassment could the advance team member inflict on the president?

The staffer’s name, which was also recently revealed, sheds more light on possible motivations.

The volunteer was Jonathan Dach, the son of prominent Wal-Mart lobbyist and Democratic donor Leslie Dach. Leslie was recently hired by the Department of Health and Human Services as a senior counselor for Obamacare.

As for Jonathan, his name was never revealed during the investigations because of his status as an unpaid staff member. He survived the incident and is now ironically working on global women’s issues in the Department of State.

In the end, the Secret Service scandal may turn into far more than an embarrassing drunken fiasco.

[Image Credit: Pete Souza/Wikimedia Commons]