Report: Agents went to strip club in 2011

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SEATTLE, April 26 (UPI) -- Secret Service agents went to strip clubs and used prostitutes while scouting El Salvador before U.S. President Obama's 2011 visit, KIRO-TV, Seattle, reported.

A U.S. government subcontractor said he joined Secret Service agents and U.S. military specialists at a strip club in San Salvador in advance of Obama's trip to San Salvador in March 2011, the station first reported Thursday.

The subcontractor said he had told the agents it was a "really bad idea" to take strippers back to their hotel rooms, but several agents bragged they "did this all the time" and "not to worry about it."

KIRO also said the man said at least two agents had escorts checked into their rooms.

These alleged incidents in El Salvador occurred a year before revelations that Secret Service agents used prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia, while on a presidential trip earlier this month.

KIRO said the owner of the San Salvador strip club the subcontractor said they visited confirmed a large number of U.S. Secret Service agents "descended on his club" the week before Obama's visit. The owner also said employees at the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador as well as visiting FBI and DEA agents, also frequented his club.

The owner told KIRO he had a reputation for "security" and "privacy," which made him popular with "those who want to be discreet."