Our October 5 post entitled First Steps in Rehab … opined that if some watchdog is going to take a seriously close look at the US Secret Service’s recent failures, “…it must objectively and critically review the interaction with and influence on Presidential protection from others who are involved in the day-to-day scheduling, travel, and living arrangements for those receiving USSS protection.   Broadly, those “others” include the White House senior and advance staff, the US military, and other federal government agencies.”

Yesterday’s Washington Post article headlined Aides knew of possible White House link to Cartagena, Colombia, prostitution scandal is a good baby step in the right direction.

The alleged conduct of White House straphanger Jonathan Dach in Cartagena in no way mitigates the seriousness of the conduct of the US Secret Service employees.  At the same time, anyone with any familiarity with human intelligence source spotting and assessing would look at Dach’s alleged conduct and, if it is verified, question whether Dach was suitable to hold any kind of position with the US government.  That could include Jonathan Dach’s present job,  “working full time in the Obama administration on a federal contract as a policy adviser in the Office on Global Women’s Issues at the State Department.”

And as the Washington Post’s article yesterday makes very clear, while the USSS and the military conducted very detailed investigations of the allegations against their respective employees, the investigation of the White House’s own advance staff, including the straphangers like Dach, could fairly be characterized as superficial and intended to deflect any embarrassing attention away from the White House.  That deflection allegedly included ordering the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General investigator “…to withhold and alter certain information in the report of investigation because it was potentially embarrassing to the administration.”

Well, well, well.  It is our guess that Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and David Nakamura may not get Presidential Christmas cards this year.