EEV: This article has been updated with the accused Ambassador at the following link:
- An internal memo obtained by CBS News reveals specific instances where investigations were ‘influenced, manipulated or simply called off’
- One investigation regarded allegations that a U.S. ambassador was soliciting prostitutes in public parks
- Another allegation of prostitute solicitation involved members of Hillary Clinton’s security personnel
- The State Department says the notion that it wouldn’t pursue such allegations is ‘preposterous’
PUBLISHED: 16:06 EST, 10 June 2013 | UPDATED: 23:23 EST, 10 June 2013
A damning internal memo obtained by CBS News alleges that – amongst various other alleged coverups – the State Department swept under the rug allegations that an unnamed U.S. ambassador repeatedly trolled overseas public parks in search of prostitutes.
According to the memo, written by the Inspector General’s office, State Department officials directed the IG’s office to stop investigating the official. He was called to D.C. to meet with Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy and then allowed to return to his job.
But that allegation is just one in a series of supposed coverups outlined in the report – others charge that the State Department covered up allegations of sexual assaults and drug use within their ranks.
The memo reveals at least a half dozen specific instances where investigations into illegal or inappropriate behavior on the part of State Department personnel were ‘influenced, manipulated, or simply called off’ by senior officials, CBS News‘ John Miller reports.
Miller reports that the cover-ups involved ‘allegations that a State Department security official in Beirut “engaged in sexual assaults” on foreign nationals hired as embassy guards and … that members of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s security detail “engaged prostitutes while on official trips in foreign countries” – a problem the report says was “endemic.”‘
Secretary of State John Kerry pauses during a joint news conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Monday, June 3, 2013, at the State Department in Washington
An internal memo has revealed that members of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s security detail were investigated for engaging prostitutes while on official trips in foreign countries
The memo also references an ‘underground drug ring’ operating near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that provided drugs to U.S. security contractor.
Miller spoke to Aurelia Fedenisn, a former investigator for the State Department Inspector General, who said investigators expect some influence but that ‘the degree to which that influence existed and how high up it went, was very disturbing.’
The memo details investigators’ concerns that cases were being manipulated by senior State Department officials. In the final report, however, all references to specific cases had been removed, Miller reports.
Allegations of misconduct revealed by an internal memo involve U.S. diplomatic officials around the world
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki pushed back against the CBS report during a press briefing on Monday.
The ‘notion that we would not vigorously pursue criminal misconduct in a case, any case, is preposterous,’ she said. ‘We take allegations of misconduct seriously and we investigate thoroughly. All cases mentioned in the CBS report were thoroughly investigated or under investigation.’
Psaki added that the State Department has responded specifically to the Inspector General’s claims that its investigations are being influenced.
‘The department has responded to the recommendations in the [Inspector General’s] report,’ she added. ‘Diplomatic Security has taken the further step of requesting additional review by outside experience law enforcement officers on top of the [Inspector General’s] inspection so that officers with law enforcement experience can make expert assessments about our current procedures.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2339178/State-Department-tried-suppress-investigations-sexual-assaults-drug-use-prostitute-solicitation-ranks.html#ixzz2VsaHFRG2 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Categories: Societal
Engineering Evil 