CBS reported Wednesday on allegations of "endemic" misconduct with prostitutes by State Department officials, including U.S. Ambassador to Belgium and former Obama bundler Howard Gutman, and an internal memo indicating agency diplomatic security officials who tried to investigate were ordered to back off.
Retired DSS agent Mike Pohelitz, who was the top State Department security official in Belgium, told CBS his request to look into Gutman's alleged solicitation of prostitutes in a public park was turned away. The memo identified Under Secretary of State Patrick Kennedy as the official who shut down the investigation into Gutman, a charge Kennedy denied.
Several members of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's security detail also used prostitutes on foreign soil, the memo alleges.
Congressional leaders from both sides are calling the charges "appalling and troubling," while the State Department is insisting there was no cover-up.
Both the Senate and House committees who oversee the State Department announced they would investigate.