Most Popular Content - www.foxnews.com: Up to 21 women brought to Colombia hotel by agents and military members, senator says

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Up to 21 women brought to Colombia hotel by agents and military members, senator says Apr 17th 2012, 15:40 Secret Service agents and members of the U.S. military brought as many as 21 women back to their hotel during their assignment to Colombia last week, a top senator briefed on the prostitution scandal said Tuesday.  Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the top Republican on the Senate homeland security committee, said she was briefed for a half-hour Monday night by Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan. Collins said she learned that U.S. Marines, as well as the 11 Secret Service agents now on administrative leave, were allegedly involved -- which could account for why so many women were brought back to the hotel.    "There are 11 agents involved. Twenty or 21 women foreign nationals were brought to the hotel, but allegedly Marines were involved with the rest," Collins said in a statement.  It was previously unclear how many women might have been involved in the incident that has brought international embarrassment upon the agencies tied up in the scandal. President Obama had traveled to Colombia for a series of meetings that were supposed to focus on trade and other pressing issues between the U.S. and its Latin American ally, but the scandal overshadowed those issues.    Collins said Sullivan is "rightly appalled by the agents' actions and is pursuing a vigorous internal investigation."  The senator also questioned whether the incident indicates "a problem with the culture of the Secret Service" and whether the men could have been compromised by their alleged behavior.  "Who were these women? Could they have been members of groups hostile to the United States? Could they have planted bugs, disabled weapons, or in any others jeopardized security of the president or our country?" she said, referring to questions she raised with Sullivan.  The Secret Service has already revoked the security clearances for the 11 agents accused of misconduct.  The military also may be broadening its internal probe into servicemembers who may have been involved. The Pentagon initially said five U.S. military servicemembers might have been engaged in misconduct. Military officials told Fox News on Tuesday that the number is higher, and that among those involved were seven airmen and two Marine dog handlers. All are accused of having women in their rooms -- U.S. officials had gone door-to-door to see where the women were staying.  Obama said Sunday he would be "angry" if the allegations turn out to be true. Defense officials said Monday they, too, were "embarrassed" by the role of military personnel.  "I can speak for myself and ... my fellow chiefs, we're embarrassed by what occurred in Colombia," Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference. "Several of our members distracted the issue from what was a very important regional engagement for our president."  "We let the boss down," Dempsey said. Fox News' Justin Fishel contributed to this report.

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