Although thoroughly vetted and background checked, Zulu sign language interpreter Thamsanqa Jantjie met all the qualifications for presidential access, except one.
Sullivan, appearing about a month after the episode, assured lawmakers that the behavior of the agents and officers involved did not point to a larger cultural problem in which such behavior was tolerated by managers. But the investigation found that several agency employees had previously acknowledged to Secret Service investigators that they had engaged in similar misconduct elsewhere, including having had sex with foreign nationals in Italy, Russia, Ireland and New York City.
Sullivan could not be reached for comment.
The report cited a number of colorful e-mail exchanges between Secret Service staff suggesting that arranging liaisons with prostitutes was a widely known and accepted practice. Before the Colombia trip, one senior supervisor e-mailed 54 employees, cracking that the motto of the trip was "Una Mas Cerveza Por Favor," Spanish for "one more beer, please." In another note, an agent wrote to a colleague, "Swagg ÂÂcologne-check/Pimp gear-check/Swagg sunglasses-check/Cash for dem hoes-check."
The report said that the openness of the communication indicates that the Secret Service employees "did not believe their misconduct would be punished."
The closing two paras above, may provide some hint as to the source of the problem.
Related - DoJ News Release dtd 3 Dec 2015: U.S. Secret Service Officer Indicted for Attempting to Send Obscene Images to a Minor