When she asked for the money the next morning, Suarez said, the agent’s pleasant personality from the night before had disappeared and he told her : “Let’s go, b----. I’m not going to pay you.”
She said he pushed her out of his room and into the hallway.
Suarez’s identity could not be independently verified, but many important details of her account appeared to be consistent with versions shared with The Post by people briefed on the incident or involved in the probe.
The interview raised new questions about the conduct of the Secret Service personnel who were in Cartagena preparing for President Obama’s arrival for an international summit, and it drew reaction from congressional figures who are monitoring the agency’s internal investigation.
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said in a statement Friday that he is concerned that the agency has yet to interview two of the 12 women who reportedly spent the night with Secret Service employees, including Suarez.
“I have asked the Secret Service for an explanation of how they have failed to find this woman when the news media seems to have no trouble doing so,” King said.
Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said that the agency has conducted a “comprehensive” investigation that included more than 200 interviews of all 135 Secret Service personnel on the trip, Colombia law enforcement officials, hotel employees and several of the women involved. He said the investigation is complete, but added that the agency would examine any additional information that becomes available.
“If she makes herself available, she’ll be interviewed,” Donovan said of Suarez.
On April 18, the New York Times published an interview with an unidentified woman who offered a similar story to the one Suarez gave to the television station Friday. The woman in the Times story was later identified by other news organizations as Suarez, and she was reported to have left her home in Cartagena and gone into hiding to avoid further media scrutiny.
This week, the Secret Service delivered an update on its investigation to King and other Capitol Hill lawmakers. The agency has chosen to dismiss nine of the 12 employees implicated in the misconduct, while clearing three of serious misbehavior. King said he will ask Director Mark Sullivan for additional information in light of Suarez’s interview and because the agency has now informed him that one of the Secret Service personnel failed a polygraph test. Earlier this week, the agency had said none of the nine employees who had agreed to take the lie detector test had failed.
Loading...
Comments