Obama supports Secret Service director amid pressure on him to resign

Washington, April 18 (ANI): U.S. President Barack Obama has been supporting Secret Service director Mark Sullivan amid pressure on the latter to resign following the Colombian prostitution scandal.

"The president has confidence in the director of the Secret Service," White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

Carney added that Obama felt that the agents who guarded him were 'exemplary, as a rule', The Politico reports.

The comments were followed after new details on the scandal emerged that 20 women had been involved with the 11 Secret Service agents and members of the military at a Cartagena hotel as revealed by Senator Susan Collins.

Collins, who received the briefing as the ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, voiced her concerns that the image of the president or the nation could have been endangered by the alleged misconduct of forces in Colombia.

"The allegations against a few agents in the Secret Service have given the entire agency a black eye, and a transparent, independent review should help the agency regain some respect from the American taxpayers and from people around the world," another Senator Chuck Grassley said.

In addition to internal investigations being conducted by the Secret Service and the Pentagon, at least four congressional committees have begun preliminary efforts that could result in investigations.

Carney did not say if Obama felt let down by the military or the Secret Service. (ANI)