The Washington Post is reporting the name of a White House advance team member who investigators believed brought a prostitute to his hotel room while staffing President Obama’s trip to Colombia in 2012.
Obama administration officials previously denied that anyone from the White House was involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal, which ensnarled a number of Secret Service agents and led to their firings.
His name: Jonathan Dach, who was a 25-year-old volunteer at the time of trip and now works full-time inside the Obama administration. Dach, through his attorney, is categorically denying the allegations.
But here’s what we know about Dach from the Washington Post story:
- Dach was a Yale University law student at the time of Obama’s trip. He now works in the Office on Global Women’s Issues at the State Department, according to the Post.
- Dach’s father, Leslie Dach, is a big Obama donor who gave $23,900 to Democrats in 2008. He is a former Wal-Mart lobbyist who helped with first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign. He now works at the Department of Health and Human Services, assisting with the roll-out of President Obama’s health-care law.
- While in Cartagena, according to the paper, Dach was not paid a salary, but was given a per-diem. The White House reimbursed him for his expenses.
- The Secret Service told then-White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler in April 2012 that it had found evidence linking Dach to a prostitute. The evidence, according to the Post, included both records and information from eyewitnesses in Colombia.
- The Post said it viewed records showing a woman was registered to his room. Investigators also said the name of the woman listed in Dach’s room was the same as a prostitute who advertised herself online.