Patterico's Pontifications

4/20/2012

Pictures Emerge of Colombian Escort/Prostitute at Center of Secret Service Scandal

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:25 am



The pictures come via the New York Daily News, and help answer several very Important Journalistic Questions.

To understand what those are, let’s first review the facts of the dispute that led to the scandal:

There was a language gap between the 24-year-old woman, who declined to give her full name, and the American man who sat beside her all night and eventually invited her back to his room. She agreed, stopped on the way to buy condoms but told him he would have to give her a gift. He asked how much. Not knowing he worked for Mr. Obama but figuring he was a well-heeled foreigner, she said she told him $800.

The price alone, she said, indicates that she is an escort, not a prostitute. “You have higher rank,” she said. “An escort is someone who a man can take out to dinner. She can dress nicely, wear nice makeup, speak and act like a lady. That’s me.”

By 6:30 the next morning, after being awoken by a telephone call from the hotel front desk reminding her that, under the hotel’s rules for prostitutes, she had to leave, whatever deal the two had agreed on had broken down. She recalled that the man told her he had been drunk when they discussed the price. He countered with an offer of 50,000 pesos, the equivalent of about $30…

A hotel security officer arrived. Eventually, she lowered her demand to $250, which she said was the amount she has to pay the man who helps find her customers. Eager to resolve the matter fast, the American men eventually gave her a combination of dollars and local currency worth about $225, and she left.

As Allahpundit put it, the dispute was perhaps “less a dispute about money than about status.”

Follow the link and note the lengths to which she goes to explain the difference between an escort and a prostitute in Colombian culture. The former, she says, is more like “a fine rum or a BlackBerry or an iPhone,” i.e. a high-end purchase. The agent may well have been telling the truth about being too drunk to remember the negotiated price and, not knowing the difference between an escort and a prostitute, offered her the going rate for a common streetwalker. Imagine the sense of insult when a “fine rum” was treated as cut-rate booze.

The pictures below will help shed light on these Issues which are prominent in this very Current News Story, and are offered in that vein. Don’t thank me, fans of Important Issues. Serious Journalism is what this blog is all about.

So there is the woman whom this fellow thought he could throw $30 at, without raising too much of a stink.

(What’s the over/under on how many commenters will claim that her elbows are too sharp?)

To further illustrate these guys’ stellar judgment, here is a photo from one of their Facebook pages:

Apparently he publicly wrote: “I was really checking her out, if you know what i mean?”

These are the geniuses protecting us from the prospect of President Biden. God help us all.

90 Responses to “Pictures Emerge of Colombian Escort/Prostitute at Center of Secret Service Scandal”

  1. I know Dana is going to be asking for pictures of men, for “balance.” That last picture is going to have to do for now.

    Not enough?

    Patterico (feda6b)

  2. this is not a few bad apples thing I don’t think -I think we’re finding out that the Secret Service is an arrogant bunch of asshole douchebags who think the rules don’t apply to them

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  3. These are the geniuses protecting us from the prospect of President Biden. God help us all.

    Love!

    Alex (31c567)

  4. that lady has a lot of personality

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  5. HappyFeet: They are part of Homeland Security, so your comment is correct but superfluous

    great unknown (307f22)

  6. oh. I thought they were part of Treasury still.

    Nobody tells me anything.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  7. Q: what’s the difference between US Secret Service agents and UN Peacekeepers?

    A: I dunno… better shoes?

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  8. #7 They are child rapists?

    Bill (af584e)

  9. She is attractive.

    Bill (af584e)

  10. Ok, well, it’s not such a “Secret” Service anymore !

    Elephant Stone (0ae97d)

  11. I’d be checking out Sarah Palin, too. She is beautiful. Don’t know that I’d be publishing that I’m a dirty old lecher.

    Seen that prostitute hierarchy in Japan. There are the geishas who sing, dance, and nothing else. There are the girls in the bars whose breasts you caress while you drink yourself into a stupor. And there are the sewers you don’t want to swim in.

    I don’t consider this all that shameful for our SS agents or soldiers. I consider it shameful for Colombia.

    nk (875f57)

  12. The husband of a family friend used to be on the primary secret service detail of George HW Bush while he was vice president. We visited them once and he showed us around Washington. He, and pretty much all the other Secret Service agents we met seemed sober and very straight laced. But it makes you wonder how much the sleazy Kennedy and Clinton extra-curricular activities (in particular) may have altered/eroded the service’s culture over time. The presidential indiscretions were surely on all their radar screens even if the agents weren’t directly complicit in the procurements, logistics, or cover-ups.

    elissa (b4175e)

  13. NK is right about the black eye it should give Colombia.

    Prostitution is legal in Colombia, and I’m sure that’s why the Secret Service saw an opportunity to do this while they were there.

    By the same token, since it IS legal there, that’s precisely why the woman went to the police to complain that these guys didn’t pay her what was agreed to.

    I think maybe the Secret Service guys were thinking they could cheat her out of her money just as they do back home in the US, where it is illegal to engage in prostitution.
    In other words, in the US, if a prostitute is cheated out of money, that’s just her tough luck, because she can’t run to the police and say, “I’m a prostitute, and my john just cheated me out of money.”

    Elephant Stone (0ae97d)

  14. Every good whore should know, “Get the money in advance”.

    nk (875f57)

  15. In the US, she runs to her pimp who is less interested in due process than Colombian cops.
    Note that this whole thing went down as if planned. Means they all thought everybody involved was fine with it.
    So, not the first time a pre-party had been on the schedule.

    Richard Aubrey (a75643)

  16. People who represent our government and who are in a country on the taxpayer’s dime, should continue to honor our laws even if the country they are in doesn’t have the same laws.

    The morality behind laws doesn’t change just because the geographic location does. If our government deems prostitution too immoral to be legal, representatives of the government shouldn’t act like they suddenly can’t wait to get their hands on some of that as soon as they are among another country’s citizens. If the government agencies like prostitution so much, they should consider arguing on behalf of legalizing it in the US.

    MayBee (e3ac46)

  17. Sarah Palin said on tv last night, “Check this out, bodyguard, you’re fired !”

    (OUCH !)

    Elephant Stone (0ae97d)

  18. Reminds me of an old poem “Never do it with a sailor unless he pays you in advance.” Seeks that should apply to agents of the SS.

    BarSinister (99d480)

  19. Maybe disgruntled and unemployed agent will write “tell all” book about the Bam family and friends.

    Anchovy (8e927c)

  20. in the US, if a prostitute is cheated out of money, that’s just her tough luck, because she can’t run to the police and say, “I’m a prostitute, and my john just cheated me out of money.”

    Not exactly. She can run to the cops and cry Rape. Her history makes it more difficult to prosecute but she didn’t consent without being paid.

    Ralph Gizzip (5ab3ea)

  21. I enjoy the important journalistic news presented in stories such as this one and encourage the blog proprietor to provide more.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  22. Ralph,

    Ok, but that supports what I asserted…she CAN’T go tell the police she’s a “prostitute,” per se….rather, she would have to make up another reality…such as “rape!”

    She can go to the cops and cry, “rape !” but then the john will provide the police with evidence of her online ads.

    But as a couple other commenters have stated, she needs to get her money up front. Most of them do, particularly where it’s illegal.

    Elephant Stone (0ae97d)

  23. Why isn’t the MSM clamoring for the names and photos of the agents involved?

    DN (543479)

  24. Why isn’t the MSM clamoring for the names and photos of the agents involved?

    Actually, I heard on the news last night (CNN, I think it was) the names of two of the supervisors who have been dismissed (I guess one of them was allowed to retire). I think the MSM will be reporting names as they become available.

    JVW (2a6861)

  25. Bar Sinister, we are collaborating on a poem:

    Every good whore should know,
    Get the money in advance.

    Never do it with a sailor,
    Unless he pays you in advance.

    Seems to me it should apply,
    To an agent of the SS.

    All yours, I only want a footnote as a collaborator.

    nk (875f57)

  26. she’s got a lovely bunch of coconuts… whoops, wrong thread.

    Colonel Haiku (1878e8)

  27. 24 one of the fired nimrods is suing.

    Calypso Louis Farrakhan (d32e4c)

  28. 16. People who represent our government and who are in a country on the taxpayer’s dime, should continue to honor our laws even if the country they are in doesn’t have the same laws.

    The morality behind laws doesn’t change just because the geographic location does. If our government deems prostitution too immoral to be legal, representatives of the government shouldn’t act like they suddenly can’t wait to get their hands on some of that as soon as they are among another country’s citizens.

    Sorry, Maybee, while I consider you a font of good sense, you go too far here.

    First of all, this Agent did nothing that is illegal in the US. Look at the laws in Nevada regarding prostitution.

    Speaking of Nevada, do we really want people from other countries adopting your position? A lot of people come here to gamble, which is illegal because it is “immoral” in their own country. Guns are considered evil in many countries. People come here to shoot, just so they can bring home a souvenir target.

    We banned “demon rum” in the early part of the last century. Are you really suggesting that Hemingway and the rest of the expat crowd shouldn’t have indulged in the “immorality” of drink while abroad? Or, conversely, people who come here from other countries where alcohol is banned shouldn’t drink here?

    I don’t want you to draw any conclusions; just because something is legal in Nevada doesn’t mean I’m going to partake of it there, or for that matter in Colombia. But as far as my morality is concerned, Congress or my state legislature doesn’t enter into it.

    Seriously? You want me deferring to Nancy Pelosi on matters of morality?

    As far as what happened in Colombia between the SS Agent and the “escortitute,” as far as I’m concerned it’s our business because the agent was on our business. His extracurricular activities compromised his ability to perform his duties.

    Had he been down there on his own dime on vacation, he still would have been a representative of the US. You can see the headlines if a US official breaks the law in a foreign country even when not there in an official capacity (which was one of the guides I used while on active duty and traveling abroad: where’s this likely to end up, and do I want my grandmother reading about it in the paper). But had he been on vacation, and had he confined himself to legal activities and stayed out of the headlines, it wouldn’t concern you or I. The matter would have been entirely between him, his wife and family, and God.

    Steve (661c31)

  29. where is teh Limerick Avenger when we need him?

    Colonel Haiku (1878e8)

  30. I wish there was a delete function. For some reason it didn’t register that you wrote “on the taxpayer’s dime” originally, Maybee. Reading comprehension’s normally not my weak point; I think I need to have my eyes checked.

    We’re on the same page. See, you are a font of good sense.

    Steve (661c31)

  31. Steve- I didn’t make any blanket statement about people. I said government employees who are on government business. Private citizens can take advantage of whatever crazy laws they like, as can government employees not on government business.

    MayBee (e3ac46)

  32. Oh, there we go. Yay us, Steve!

    MayBee (e3ac46)

  33. The Colombian chica… she’s pretty hot, I think.

    I mean, not like worth-throwing-your-career-away hot… But she’s still pretty cute.

    Hayabusa (36ebb6)

  34. I can say from a perspective of personal experience that Happyfeet is correct at #2 above.

    The SS has 3 components — Presidential Detail, regular agent, and uniformed service. The second two are just fine, but the PD guys are a bunch of arrogant asshats who believe they answer to no one. What went on in Columbia is simply foreign flavor of what these guys do around the world on a regular basis.

    Think about what a narcissist you have to be to be on the PD. The PD is not just the guys actually traveling with the POTUS, but also the advance teams to arrive days ahead and do all the security planning with the locals. These guys live on per diem, while living friends and family behind for weeks at a time. They’ve got a lot of down time and a lot of money in their pocket, without a lot of supervision.

    shipwreckedcrew (beac54)

  35. Wonder if “Client Number 9” would have paid the $800 and not quibbled about it?

    Mike Myers (dc4fc0)

  36. “These are the geniuses protecting us from the prospect of President Biden. God help us all.”

    – Patterico

    hahahahahaha… awesome.

    Leviticus (870be5)

  37. 36.“These are the geniuses protecting us from the prospect of President Biden. God help us all.”

    – Patterico

    hahahahahaha… awesome.

    Comment by

    Would Biden be an improvement.

    His gaffes would be overlooked as stuppity instead of intential insults to our friends and probably would pull fewer neville champerlian stunts with our enemies.

    Joe (5e0a70)

  38. Reminds me of an old joke, “You know how to make a Hormone?……………”Don’t pay her”

    tonynoboloney (a76c4d)

  39. Would I be straying off-topic if I used those photos as a basis for an observation about free markets, cosmetic surgery, and Obamacare?

    Beldar (51edd4)

  40. I’m cashing out my 401K, CD’s, stocks and bonds. I’m flying to Columbia and going all Charlie Sheen.

    Be oh be (28af29)

  41. am I mistaken, or does that Colombian putana in the third shot on the couch with teh high heels not look like Markos Moulitsas in a wig?

    Colonel Haiku (1878e8)

  42. She’s cute, but not great.

    Random (2293ea)

  43. ‘Money down before panty down!’

    Tango51 (0819f8)

  44. I know Dana is going to be asking for pictures of men, for “balance.” That last picture is going to have to do for now.

    Not enough?

    Well, since you mentioned it, a big story you could have written about is that this handsome piece of work guy is hosting a $40k/plate fundraiser for our president. This is Very Important News and worthy of a Current News Story. Being an equal opportunity blogger is a worthy goal, Patterico. You should work on that.

    Dana (4eca6e)

  45. BTW, what is it with ladies wearing men’s watches these days?

    And, yes, the putas look like transexuals to me. Not that I would know anything about that

    nk (875f57)

  46. How come we can fire these Secret Service Agents but we can’t fire teachers what are royal screw ups?

    NO JUSTICE NO PEACE

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  47. I am a connoisseur of top-quality hoo-haa along with the commiserate uses thereof, and I have chased my obsession with it all around the world.

    While I have never done a cash-transaction lease of a hoo-haa, I have come to learn the value of certain specimens. The value of a hoo-haa is judged very much like a fine automobile…age matters, as does overall appearance, but mileage matters most of all.

    That said, I’m pretty confident that particular hoo-haa isn’t worth $800 a slice…just sayin’

    MJN195 (6e1275)

  48. MJN, who the hell would pay to swim in a sewer in the first place? I have never understood prostitution, from the side of the clients? Are there men who are that desperate? Is it desperation?

    nk (875f57)

  49. That first picture. I have a kayak just like that.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  50. @47 nk…

    Well, yeah…but keep in mind, from the mans point of view we pay for it one way or the other anyway…and the fading art of courtship is a damned expensive way to obtain access.

    Some just prefer short-term leases for the tidiness of no-strings-attached. For some, it is the only way they are permitted access to top-tier goods.

    Sad but true…

    MJN1957 (6e1275)

  51. if people want to get all Tiger Woods when they’re not representing my country then that’s fine I think though I think there’s a certain moderation what should apply, and also discretion

    Don’t get all stupid and nasty like Tiger that’s just gross and selfish and a really shitty thing to do to your kids.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  52. NK @8:10– that is an interesting question about prostitution and one that I have pondered myself. But a news journal program did a segment on men who use prostitutes a few years back which offered some insights that made some sense. And yes, in some cases it is desperation.

    One single guy in particular who knows full well he is not physically attractive (on several levels) was very open and candid. He explained that he is not kinky or deviant in any way, but has sexual needs and desires like most normal people. Still, he said that after years of trying he finally “got” that the sort of “nice” and “respectable” women who will date him and would sleep with him are not remotely attractive or a turn on to him–and the types he desires are just not available to a person like him. He admitted that he knows he would never get a cute woman who actually turns him on to sleep with him unless he pays her. He said he has accepted that and now uses prostitutes. To him, paying for sex was better (and healthier) than having no sex.

    elissa (271642)

  53. Can’t say anything bad about women prostitutes as long as John Kerry is out there and taken seriously. I have more respect for the honesty of the woman above than I do for Kerry. She shows more self respect as well.

    That said I would dry up before swimming in those waters.

    Machinist (b6f7da)

  54. I wonder too who is more of a prostitute, a person who goes before the public and knowingly spins lies for someone like Obama or Clinton or a woman who only sells her body?

    Who’s sins would you rather answer for, the woman above or Nancy Pelosi’s?

    Machinist (b6f7da)

  55. Pelosi is why they had to pass an insider-trading law for congresswhores

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  56. She’s cute, but not great.

    You noticed the sharp elbows, I see.

    Patterico (feda6b)

  57. You noticed the sharp elbows, I see.

    Nah, I’m just comparing her to a stunningly hot and cute (and sweet!) Brazilian girl I know who’s now studying in Manhattan. I kind of got real spoiled on South American “cute”.

    Alas, for the “just friends” thing ….

    Random (2293ea)

  58. it makes her even more attractive knowing she’ll stand up for herself

    saucy!

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  59. Nice Kayak!

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  60. a kayak was what that guy was in when he got murdered by geese last week

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  61. Mr. Feets – I am reliably informed some folks are appreciative of hookers what are into water sports so a kayak is a metaphory statement.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  62. but then so is being murdered by geese

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  63. Mr. Feets – I did not know geese eated somebody in a kayak. Nobody tells me anything.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  64. Misdemeanor gun court was also women’s court. I would see the ladies there and I would not approach them with a hazmat suit on. (My first wife told me, seriously, once that she did not worry about me fooling around because of my fastidiousness.) I did feel sorry for them, but they are mostly in very bad shape at a very young age.

    nk (875f57)

  65. Mr. Feets – Were they Canada geese angry about the Keystone Pipeline or something?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  66. oh. Sorry they were actually murderous swans.

    The murder swans were there to make the geeses go away.

    This is one of those best-laid plans things.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  67. Murder swans are the worst.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  68. preach it

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  69. Right up there with the vicious gangs of granny snatchers, and keep left signs, but that would be too silly.

    david randall chaney (8d0f34)

  70. the fellows who know all the secrets like to get so drunk in foreign lands that they dont know or remember what theyre saying? intereating.

    vladimir p from russia (949832)

  71. There was a time I was appointed to represent a lady with a long history of prostitution. She knew the score, she told me, “I’m forty years old, with hundreds of arrests and convictions. Make a deal.” I said, “I’ll talk to the judge”. I met the judge in the courtroom corridor. I asked, “Your Honor, what would you give a forty-year old prostitute, down on her luck?” He said, “Forty dollars, no more”.

    nk (875f57)

  72. There was a time I was appointed to represent a lady with a long history of prostitution. She knew the score, she told me, “I’m forty years old, with hundreds of arrests and convictions. Make a deal.” I said, “I’ll talk to the judge”. I met the judge in the courtroom corridor. I asked, “Your Honor, what would you give a forty-year old prostitute, down on her luck?” He said, “Forty dollars, no more”.

    nk (875f57)

  73. Ok, but that supports what I asserted…she CAN’T go tell the police she’s a “prostitute,” per se….rather, she would have to make up another reality…such as “rape!”

    No, I believe that still qualifies as rape. The money was an explicit part of the exchange being made, and, without the money, her consent wasn’t there. If you intentionally, knowingly, go ahead and have sex with her with the intent to not provide the agreed upon value-for-value exchange, it’s still blatantly wrong, even if you think that kind of mercenary exchange isn’t what Sex should be all about.

    It’s certainly a kind of “soft rape”, in that the coercive element was deception in nature rather than threat of violence, but I believe that’s still rape. You still took advantage of her under circumstances which she would not otherwise have consented to.

    IGotBupkis, Legally Defined Cyberbully in All 57 States (8e2a3d)

  74. but that would be too silly.

    These guys aren’t Brits. There’s no Ministry of Silly F**Ks to apply for a grant from to further the development of a particular f**k…
    😀

    IGotBupkis, Legally Defined Cyberbully in All 57 States (8e2a3d)

  75. I was talking about the killer swan, as for ‘nudge, nudge, that’s another matter.

    david randall chaney (8d0f34)

  76. Another example of Mark Steyn’s classic wit: Grope and Change.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  77. Rape is force, Bupkis, without actual consent. Period.

    Whore agreeing
    Not get paid
    It just cheating
    It not rape.

    nk (875f57)

  78. Force is the operative word.

    Any whore who spreads her legs other than under the threat of bodily harm has no recourse in law.

    nk (875f57)

  79. DRJ, thanks for that link.
    The 21 dedicated public servants jetted in on the so-called car-planes, the big transports flying in the tinted-windowed black Suburbans for the presidential motorcade. The “car-plane” guys show up a few days in advance, but usually two weeks or so after the really advanced advance team has hit the ground. And there was nothing for them to do. There is no reason for them to be there.

    So instead they went to the Pleyclub.

    So true.


    It’s not just the entitlements. Everywhere you look in the bloated federal Leviathan, all is waste, all is excess. But the absurd imperial presidency is a good place to start. The next citizen-executive of this republic would be sending a right message were he to halve the motorcade, halve the security detail, halve the hookers.

    It has gotten ridiculous. And now we see one more reason why. The more security theater they can surround the president with, the more people get to go on the trip.

    MayBee (e3ac46)

  80. if there’s a top-o-the-food-chain pimp his name is Daddy Soros I think, and let’s face it Obama just flat-out can’t rock a bikini like dat

    bless his heart it’s not for lack of trying

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  81. he went topless in People remember? – omg was that 4 years ago?

    seems like yesterday, Obama’s moobs glistening in the Hawaii heat…

    glistening like the promised land they were

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  82. 83. Still expect the DNC to drown this puppy in a burlap sack. Another reason the HRC/BiteMe switcheroo can’t be true.

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  83. barking is amusing, but when he said Iran was an insignificant country, was more on point;

    http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/15/western-nations-caved-on-nuclear-enrichment-boasts-irans-revolutionary-guards/

    narciso (8d0f34)

  84. Mark Steyn’s new column, which National Review Online is running with the headling, ‘Grope and Change,’ is a hilarious summary of the Not-Very-Secret Service escapades in Colombia.

    In response to some of the Agents claiming they had no idea the women were professional escorts, Steyn offers the incisive line, “It turns out U.S. Secret Service agents are the only men who can walk into a Colombian nightclub and not spot the professionals. Are they really the guys you want protecting the president?”

    (OUCH !)

    Elephant Stone (0ae97d)

  85. uh, I should have written, ‘headline,’—not ‘headling.’

    Doh.

    Elephant Stone (0ae97d)

  86. Poor Americans, they don’t have the freedom people have in another countries, they live a miserable and boring life in USA. Proof is that, not 1 but 10 of them got involved in prostitution.

    John (ee5e1e)

  87. You actually make it seem really easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be actually something which I think I’d by no means understand. It seems too complex and very broad for me. I am taking a look forward for your next post, I’ll attempt to get the cling of it!

    Beat Headphones (57845f)


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