Secret Service agent sent home after getting drunk in Dutch hotel

WASHINGTON (AP):

A Secret Service agent found drunk by staff at a Dutch hotel was recalled to the US along with two of his colleagues, the day before President Barack Obama was set to arrive in the Netherlands.

Word of another embarrassing incident to hit the elite agency came as the president was midway through a weeklong, four-country trip to Europe and Saudi Arabia. The Secret Service said the three agents were benched on Sunday for "disciplinary reasons" but declined to elaborate.

The Secret Service was alerted to the situation by US Embassy officials in the Netherlands after hotel staff reported finding the highly intoxicated agent in the hotel, said a person familiar with the situation, who wasn't authorized to discuss the alleged behaviour on the record and demanded anonymity.

Others didn't assist

The other two agents were deemed complicit because they didn't intervene despite being in a position to assist the drunken agent or tamp down his behaviour, the person said.

"It wasn't like a big, crazy party," the person said.

The three agents were part of the president's Counter Assault Team, but have been placed on administrative leave, according to The Washington Post, which first reported the disciplinary action. The newspaper said one of the agents was a "team leader".

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said the incident did not compromise the president's security in any way. Obama left the Netherlands late Tuesday for Brussels, and there were no known security issues during his stay.