The U.S. Department of Homeland Security official who investigated the Secret Service‘s 2012 prostitution scandal quietly resigned earlier this year in August after allegedly being questioned about hiring a prostitute in Florida, The New York Times first reported on Tuesday.
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Authorities interviewed David Nieland after sheriff’s deputies saw him on surveillance footage entering and leaving a hotel in May often visited by prostitutes in Broward County. A prostitute later confirmed Nieland’s identity, and told officials he had paid her for sex.
Nieland left his job in August after he refused to answer a series of questions from the Homeland Security inspector general about the incident, officials told The Times. He was head of the office in Miami when he assumed the role of investigator for the case.
Nieland denied the allegation in an emailed a message to the newspaper, and declined to answer additional questions posed by NBC News.
Officials are investigating the reported incident. Nieland hasn’t been charged by federal or local authorities in connection with the allegation.
Eight Secret Service agents were fired in 2012 in the wake of revelations that they solicited prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia, ahead of a presidential visit to the country. A Justice Department investigation found that two Drug Enforcement Administration agents arranged an encounter between a prostitute and a Secret Service officer.









