Via Facebook
Two of the 11 Secret Service personnel who allegedly solicited prostitutes and escorts last week while on duty in Cartagena, Colombia were identified yesterday. One of them, David Randall Chaney, was a supervisor who joined the agency following in the footsteps of his father, who started with the agency during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Washington Post reports.
It was also learned that Chaney, who was a supervisor in the Secret Service’s international division before retiring on Wednesday, had something of a wandering eye. In 2008, he was posted to the detail protecting Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and posted several photos to his Facebook page of himself guarding the then-Alaska governor. Some of the comments by Chaney and his friends were a bit suggestive, the Post reports:
In one picture, he is wearing a dark suit and sunglasses, standing near a black vehicle behind Palin as she approaches a crowd. In the comments section next to the photo, a friend remarked that Chaney appeared to be “lurking in the shadows” behind Palin.
Another kidded that there seemed to be “real chemistry” between the two.
Chaney posted: “I was really checking her out, if you know what i mean?”
Another friend asked if one of the buttons on Palin’s lapel was emblazoned with Chaney’s face.
Chaney replied, “well if it was could you blame her, anything to satisfy a stalker.”
Speaking with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren last night, Palin responded to the newest details in a scandal that has rocked the Secret Service. Van Susteren tried to remind Palin and her viewers that presidential protection is supposed to be an apolitical business, though Palin called the agents’ behavior a “symptom of government run amok.” Still, she was keen enough to say that she hoped Chaney’s wife “kicks him into the dog house.”
The Secret Service agents and uniformed officers involved in this scandal had been dispatched to Cartagena to prepare for President Obama’s attendance at the Summit of the Americas. The allegations that they, along with a group of military officers, brought as many as 20 or 21 sex workers back to their hotel rooms first arose after one of the escorts argued with a pair of agents over how much she was owed for her services.
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who chairs the committee with oversight over the agency, has said repeatedly he expects more firings and resignations as the Secret Service continues its internal investigation.
But it’s pretty clear the agency has already lost the publicity war. A new advertisement for Spirit Airlines promises “more bang for your buck” on the low-cost carrier’s flights to Cartagena and features images of a man in black in front of a group of scantily clad women.
