On Thursday morning, the Washington Post [1] reported that senior White House officials knew that an Obama volunteer hired a prostitute, and allowed her to stay in his Columbian hotel room, during the infamous Columbia prostitution scandal of 2012 but Team Obama tried to hide such information during the official investigation.
Despite the Post report, CBS This Morning was the only network morning show to acknowledge the story during its Thursday morning broadcast. ABC's Good Morning America and NBC’s Today predictably ignored the report altogether.
Major Garrett, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent, provided a nearly 3 minute report on the Post report, including details that a government investigator suggests White House pressure “hobbled” the investigation:
MAJOR GARRETT: The Obama White House denies a cover-up of the Cartagena scandal especially the charge leveled by government investigator David Nieland that political pressure hobbled the prostitution probe. An associate of Nieland, Gregory Stokes, raised the charge with CBS News former senior correspondent and current Deputy Commissioner of the NYPD John Miller.
GREGORY STOKES: A man of high integrity in my opinion was placed on administrative leave for refusing to redact or omit portions of his original report to the satisfaction of the inspector general.
JOHN MILLER: So the lead investigator wrote up the reports with the facts as he understood them, submitted it and they sent it back and said change the facts?STOKES: That's my understanding.
The CBS reporter did note that the bipartisan committee tasked with investigating the prostitution scandal has denied any cover-up despite the claims of government investigator David Nieland:
A bipartisan Senate committee report released in April rejected the accusation of a cover-up. The report said it specifically investigated whether orders were given, quote, “to remove information that could have been embarrassing to the Department of Homeland Security and/or the Obama administration in an election year.” The committee found no evidence to, quote, “substantiate the allegations.”
Garrett went on to inform his CBS audience that not only did an Obama volunteer hire a prostitute while on official White House assignment but his family has close ties to the Democratic Party:
It has long been known a White House Travel Office volunteer was implicated in the Cartagena prostitution scandal. What wasn’t known was the name, Jonathan Dach, son of prominent Democrat donor and former Wal Mart lobbyist Leslie Dach.
The White House investigation cleared Jonathan Dach of wrongdoing but never disclosed his name, in part because he was a volunteer and not a salaried White House staffer. Dach has long denied any wrong doing. What he cannot deny are ample connections to the White House and the Obama administration.
The report concluded with Garrett noting that Dach had been recently employed within the Obama administration despite his past connections to prostitutes:
The younger Dach survived the scandal and is now a contract employee at the State Department in the Office of Global Women’s Issues.
Rather than cover the damning new report suggesting the White House attempted to cover up the fact that a White House volunteer hired a prostitute while in Columbia, ABC’s Good Morning America spent nearly 2 minutes discussing the latest ways airlines are allowing people to “fly in luxury.” NBC’s Today did a segment on Halloween pet costumes instead of covering the potential White House cover up surrounding the Secret Service prostitution scandal.
See relevant transcript below.
CBS This Morning
October 9, 2014
NORAH O’DONNELL: And new charges this morning of a cover-up in a Secret Service scandal. The Colombia prostitution debacle of 2012. The Washington Post says the Obama administration knew of allegations that a White House volunteer brought a prostitute to his hotel room on that trip. Major Garrett is at the White House with new information that contradicts some denials. Major good morning.
MAJOR GARRETT: Good morning. The Washington Post is reporting two new allegations are now on the table about that Cartagena prostitution scandal back in 2012. Was an independent investigation watered down or delayed to protect the White House? And was the White House volunteer assigned to the travel office in Columbia shielded from scrutiny?
The Obama White House denies a cover up of the Cartagena scandal especially the charge leveled by government investigator David Nieland that political pressure hobbled the prostitution probe. An associate of Nieland, Gregory Stokes, raised the charge with CBS News former senior correspondent and current Deputy Commissioner of the NYPD John Miller.
GREGORY STOKES: A man of high integrity in my opinion was placed on administrative leave for refusing to redact or omit portions of his original report to the satisfaction of the inspector general.
JOHN MILLER: So the lead investigator wrote up the reports with the facts as he understood them, submitted it and they sent it back and said change the facts?STOKES: That's my understanding.
GARRETT: Stokes was referring to Nieland investigating the prostitution scandal on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General’s office. But a bipartisan Senate committee report released in April rejected the accusation of a cover up. The report said it specifically investigated whether orders were given, quote, “to remove information that could have been embarrassing to the Department of Homeland Security and/or the Obama administration in an election year.” The committee found no evidence to, quote, “substantiate the allegations.”
It has long been known a White House Travel Office volunteer was implicated in the Cartagena prostitution scandal. What wasn’t known was the name, Jonathan Dach, son of prominent Democrat donor and former Wal Mart lobbyist Leslie Dach. The White House investigation cleared Jonathan Dach of wrongdoing but never disclosed his name, in part because he was a volunteer and not a salaried White House staffer. Dach has long denied any wrong doing.
What he cannot deny are ample connections to the White House and the Obama administration. Dach’s father was recently hired at the Department of Health and Human Services where he now serves as a senior counselor on the implementation of the president’s health care law. The younger Dach survived the scandal and is now a contract employee at the State Department in the Office of Global Women’s Issues. Charlie?
CHARLIE ROSE: Major, thanks.
— Jeffrey Meyer is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Jeffrey Meyer on Twitter. [2]