The inspector general's investigator in charge of the Department of Homeland Security's review of the Secret Service prostitution scandal resigned after he came under suspicion of patronizing prostitutes himself, government and administration officials told NBC News on Tuesday night.
An administration official and a government source confirmed a report in The New York Times that said David Nieland, who was head of the Homeland Security inspector general's office in Miami when he was put in charge of investigating the Secret Service case, quietly stepped down in August after a prostitute in Broward County, Florida, identified a photo of Nieland and told sheriff's deputies that he had paid her for sex.
The Times said Nieland declined to answer questions, said simply by email: "The allegation is not true." He did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
Eight Secret Service agents doing advance work for a presidential trip to a summit in Colombia lost their jobs in 2012 after they were accused of having taken prostitutes from a strip club back to their hotel rooms. A Justice Department investigation found that two Drug Enforcement Administration agents arranged an encounter between a prostitute and a Secret Service officer.
IN-DEPTH
- White House Dismisses Report it Knew More About Prostitution Scandal
- Long List of Breaches and Scandals for Secret Service Under Obama
— Kristin Welker and M. Alex Johnson
