WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley is pressing FBI Director Robert Mueller for information about taxpayer dollars possibly being spent on prostitutes for an FBI agent and several cooperating witnesses in the Philippines.
Grassley’s questions come after a motion outlining the allegations was filed in a California federal district court. The motion alleges that an undercover agent “invited [the cooperating individuals] to . . . brothels in and around Manila in order to reward them for their efforts and encourage them to continue looking for weapons. [The undercover agent] ordered prostitutes, and paid for himself and others to have sex with the prostitutes.” The motion also provides correspondence from the Justice Department which confirms that the undercover FBI agent made reimbursement requests totaling $14,500 in expenses incurred by the undercover agent at clubs in the Philippines. In addition, the motion claims that many of the prostitutes at one of the brothels the FBI agent frequented were likely minors.
Grassley said that U.S. federal law enforcement personnel must be beyond reproach and that this type of behavior cannot be condoned by FBI leadership. Grassley has requested the FBI to provide responses to questions, a briefing and documents by October 10, 2012, regarding this situation.
The text of the letter to Mueller is below. A signed copy of the letter can be found here.
