The U.S. Army detail assigned to Vice President Mike Pence’s communications team has been removed from White House duties after being caught on video bringing women back to their hotel in Colombia, according to three U.S. defense officials.
The soldiers didn’t register the women when they brought them in, the officials said.
They were in Colombia in connection with Pence’s trip there earlier this month. It’s not clear if Pence was in Colombia at the time of the incident, but his staff became aware of the problem when they saw the soldiers bringing the women into the secure area on security camera video, the officials said.
The soldiers — who were senior members of the service, according to one of the officials — were brought back to the United States and removed from the White House detail once the allegations surfaced.
“We are aware of the incident and it is currently under investigation,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Haverstick said. “We can confirm that the individuals in question have been re-assigned back to the Army.”
In 2012, eight Secret Service agents doing advance work for a presidential trip to Colombia lost their jobs after allegations that some took prostitutes from a strip club back to their hotel rooms.
There is no indication at this point that the women with the U.S. Army soldiers were prostitutes, officials said.
The Defense Department had no immediate comment.