The director of the Secret Service said Wednesday that he’s never heard of sexual encounters with residents of foreign countries being condoned on the road and encouraged anyone with evidence to the contrary to come forward.
“The thought or notion that this kind of behavior is condoned or authorized is just absurd, in my opinion,” Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said, referring to a Washington Post story contending that sexual encounters during offical travel “had been condoned under an unwritten code that allows what happens on the road to stay there.” Citing former and current Secret Service employees, the Washington Post said that some married agents were well known to cheat on their wives.
Sullivan, testifying before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, called the agents’ behavior “dumb” but said he doesn’t believe they did it because they believed the behavior was condoned.
“When I was first apprised of this situation, I was dumbfounded,” Sullivan said. “I’m confident this is not a cultural issue, this is not a systemic issue with us.”
