Secret Service scandal brings more resignations

WASHINGTON – Two more Secret Service employees resigned Tuesday in the aftermath of an overseas prostitution scandal that President Barack Obama said involved “knuckleheads” but doesn’t typify the agency that protects the first family and other dignitaries.

On the eve of a congressional hearing that will address the scandal, Secret Service officials announced that the two unidentified employees resigned and a third has had his national security clearance permanently revoked. Two other Secret Service employees were cleared “of serious misconduct and will face appropriate administrative action,” agency officials said.

The Secret Service and the Pentagon continued their probes into a scandal that began in a disagreement over money between a Colombian prostitute and a Secret Service employee inside the Hotel Caribe. Congress gets its first crack at addressing the scandal today when the Senate Judiciary Committee questions Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

White House officials have said they retain their faith in the service despite the seedy sex scandal.

“These guys are incredible,” Obama said in a taped interview Tuesday on NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.”

“They protect me. They protect Michelle. They protect the girls. They protect our officials all around the world.”

Obama added: “So a couple of knuckleheads shouldn’t detract from what they do, but what were they thinking, I don’t know. That’s why they’re not there anymore.”