According to an internal watchdog report from the Justice Department, six FBI officials stationed overseas had sex with prostitutes in karaoke bars, massage parlors, and gentlemen’s clubs, NPR reported.
The 37-page report was made public in response to a Freedom of Information Act request on October 20, 2021; however, redactions have obscured the identities of the officials and the nations in which the incidents took place. But it also provides information about the wrongdoing, pointing out FBI and Justice Department policies that have been broken, putting agents at risk of blackmail or extortion.
Among the conclusions was that, while on official business abroad, one official paid for sex at a strip club, a massage parlor, and a karaoke joint on a social outing with foreign law enforcement allies. It was found that another official had participated in comparable activities with a prostitute provided by local law enforcement and at a gentleman’s club.
The report describes an incident in which foreign law enforcement officials offered to set up FBI officials with prostitutes, resulting in meetings at their lodgings. Although the location is obscured by redactions, an official admitted to having sex with these people.
Polygraph tests conducted during the course of the investigation showed that five officials had been dishonest or evasive about their involvement with prostitutes, according to the report. Multiple FBI policies were broken by their actions, including failing to report contacts with foreign nationals and hiding misconduct by themselves and their colleagues.
The officials involved faced varying consequences: three of them resigned, two of them retired, and one of them lost their job. Working with foreign prostitutes while on FBI assignment is against established DOJ and FBI policy.