There’s a wrinkle here: In its recounting of today’s revelations, the Daily Caller writes that the lawyer “blamed four news outlets — CNN, The Daily Caller, Telemundo and Univision — for allegedly encouraging him to fabricate false accusations about Menendez.” This isn’t true; according to the Post, the man only accused the Daily Caller—not the other three outlets—of offering to bribe him (the other three were mentioned as having requested to interview the man after he made the claims). The lawyer’s reliability is already shot, having reversed his story at least once, but the Daily Caller has seriously undermined its own credibility by reporting the original story in such a misleading, and indeed factually inaccurate, way. This is one of those weird news stories where all parties involved seem to have been dishonest to some degree—with the possible exception of Menendez himself.
These personnel changes will not affect the comprehensive security plan that has been prepared in advance of the president’s trip.Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan • Discussing the allegations of misconduct — specifically, prostitution — involving Secret Service agents in Colombia for a summit that the president was attending. Of note: The allegations of misconduct occurred before the president got to Colombia, according to Donovan.
» The AP has a salacious tip: “The Associated Press received an anonymous tip that the misconduct involved prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia, the site of the meeting. A Secret Service spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of the tip.” Obama is visiting the country for the Summit of the Americas. The Washington Post reports that prostitution is legal in Colombia in specific areas, though (obviously) frowned upon in the case of Secret Service agents. In case you needed your story of the week, guys, there you go. (Edit: The Secret Service responds.)
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» And there’s an Egypt tie to this story, too: Perhaps the most bizarre spare detail of the entire incident might be the reason why Berlusconi was caught this time. See, Ruby Heart-Stealer, a Moroccan whose real name is Karima El Mahroug, was arrested last May for theft, and he called the Police to intervene – because, get this, he believed she was Hosni Mubarak’s niece. Random. Berlusconi and Heart-Stealer both deny they had sex, though there must have been an interesting story about how they met, then. Right?
200 cities + a tawdry sex scandal = A huge anti-Berlusconi protest: Hundreds of thousands of women took part in today’s protests. This is why, if you’re the leader of Italy, you don’t get associated with scandals involving underage prostitutes. source
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