Obama Reportedly Naming New Secret Service Chief

[HuffingtonPost]

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has  chosen a veteran Secret Service official who oversaw criminal  investigations to head the agency,  which last year became  embroiled in a prostitution scandal in Colombia, a U.S.  government source said.                

In the next few days, Obama will appoint David O'Connor, a  former assistant director of investigations who retired last  year, as director of the agency that protects the president and  other top officials.                

The White House had no comment and the Department of  Homeland Security would not confirm that he was to be appointed.                

O'Connor will replace Mark Sullivan, who retired last month  after almost three decades with the agency. The post of Secret  Service director does not require U.S. Senate confirmation.                

Sullivan was in charge of the Secret Service when it became  embroiled in a scandal involving agents taking prostitutes back  to their hotel rooms in Colombia ahead of a visit by Obama to  Cartagena in April 2012. Sullivan was generally credited with  acting aggressively in response to one of the biggest scandals  to hit the agency.                

O'Connor, who was with the Secret Service for more than 25  years, oversaw all criminal investigations and was in charge of  agents in the field.                

Previously he was in charge of dignitary protection, which  included the 2008 Democratic National Convention where Obama was  selected as the party's presidential candidate.                

According to a blog post on MassLive.com during the Denver  convention, O'Connor spoke to a group about his experiences when  he was assigned to presidential candidate Al Gore, Pat  Buchanan's campaign, first daughter Chelsea Clinton, and a U.S.  visit by Pope Benedict, who stepped down last month.                

Earlier in his Secret Service career O'Connor was special  agent in charge of the Newark, N.J., office.     (Reporting By Tabassum Zakaria and Deborah Charles; Editing by  Vicki Allen)

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Via: HuffingtonPost