Judicial Watch Sues Secret Service for Records on Obama-Era Cartagena Prostitution Scandal

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for records related to the Obama-era 2012 U.S. Secret Service prostitution scandal in Cartagena, Colombia (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (1:26-cv-01555)).

Judicial Watch sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Secret Service failed to respond to a February 19, 2026, FOIA request for:

All emails and text messages sent between officials in the U.S. Secret Service and officials in the Office of the White House Counsel, including but not limited to White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, relating to a controversy involving Secret Service officials and other U.S. government employees using the services of prostitutes during an Obama visit to Cartagena, Colombia in 2012.

A September 26, 2012, report from Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, prepared in response to queries from several senators, found:

[W]e identified 13 USSS [Secret Service] employees who had personal encounters with female Colombian nationals consistent with the misconduct reported in April 2012, around the time of advance activities for the President’s visit to Cartagena. These encounters took place at the Hotel Caribe, the Hilton Cartagena Hotel and at a private residence.

Our investigation determined that 12 of the 13 USSS employees met 13 female Colombian nationals at bars or clubs and returned with them to their rooms at the Hotel Caribe or the Hilton Cartagena Hotel.  

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Through our interviews, we learned that following their encounters, 3 females left the rooms without asking for money, 5 females asked for money and were paid, and 4females asked for money but were not paid. In addition, one female, who asked to be paid but was not, brought a Colombian police officer to the door of the USSS employee’s room; the employee did not answer the door. As a result, she was paid by another USSS employee and left.

All told, the Secret Service investigated 12 people in connection with the Colombia incident. The final outcome was seven resignations, three employees receiving administrative punishment, one termination and one retirement.

At least 10 military personnel involved in Obama’s trip also reportedly invited prostitutes to their rooms. Multiple law enforcement and congressional sources alleged involvement by members of the White House advance team, as well.

“The Secret Service’s refusal to turn over records about communications with the Obama White House raises serious transparency concerns. Judicial Watch’s lawsuit aims to uncover exactly what Secret Service officials were telling the White House during one of the most embarrassing security scandals in modern presidential history,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

In April 2026, Judicial Watch sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for records related to an August 31, 2025, incident in which a club member allegedly carried a loaded semi-automatic handgun past Secret Service screening checkpoints at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia while President Donald Trump was on site.

Also in April, Judicial Watch’s FOIA lawsuit forced the release of records from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that show that would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks was reportedly involved in an altercation with a group of people and making “hateful comments” directed at President Trump at the Butler, PA, rally site before the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt.

 In February 2026, Judicial Watch’s lawsuit forced the release of the first FBI records about the Butler assassination attempt.

 In December 2025, Judicial Watch sued the U.S. Secret Service for communications records related to Code Pink protesters who disrupted a dinner held by President Trump at a restaurant in Washington, DC, on September 9, 2025 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:25-cv-04408)).

 In September 2025, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for messages among top leaders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation referencing social media posts of Special Agent Jeffrey Veltri, head of the Miami Field Office, which is investigating the September 15 assassination attempt against Donald Trump (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:24-cv-02740)).

 In March 2025, Judicial Watch sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for records related to security provided for the July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, PA (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:25-cv-00704)). 

 In August 2024, Judicial Watch uncovered documents from the district attorney’s office in Butler County, PA, detailing the extensive preparation of local police for the rally at which former President Trump was shot. The preparation included sniper teams, counter assault teams and a quick response force.

 In August 2024, in response to a separate open records request, Judicial Watch obtained bodycam footage of the July 13 assassination events from the Butler Township Police Department.

 In August 2024, following up on reports that the Biden Secret Service denied Trump’s requests for additional Secret Service protection, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit for Secret Service and other records regarding potential increased protective services to Trump’s security detail prior to the attempt on his life at his July 13 campaign rally in Butler, PA (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:24-cv-02495)).

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