The chairman of a House committee investigating an alleged Secret Service prostitution scandal predicted more firings as key lawmakers and a top adviser to President Barack Obama expressed confidence Sunday that the agency will effectively deal with the incident. 
 
 People walk past Hotel El Caribe in Cartagena, Colombia, late Thursday, April 19, 2012. Eleven Secret Service employees are accused of misconduct in connection with a prostitution scandal at the hotel... (Associated Press) 
 
 "Every possible lead is being examined," said Rep. Peter King, who heads the House Homeland Security Committee. King, R-N.Y., said he expected that in the "near future, several other" members of the Secret Service will leave. 
 
 "What they were thinking is beyond me," King told NBC's "Meet the Press." 
 
 So far, the scandal includes 12 Secret Service employees and 11 military members. 
 
 Six of the Secret Service members have lost their jobs. One has been cleared and five remain on administrative leave. The main incident occurred shortly before Obama arrived for a meeting of regional presidents last weekend. 
 
 A Secret Service official confirmed Sunday that one of the 12 implicated in the scandal was staying at a different hotel than the others. 
 
 He was staying at the Hilton, where Obama eventually would stay, said the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The agent is being investigated for improprieties in a separate incident that may have happened on April 9, days before the president arrived and while the hotel was still open to the general public. 
 
 Sen. Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, also mentioned the 12th agent under investigation in an appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation." 
 
 "Now we don't know at this point what that 12th agent is being charged with and why he's been put on administrative leave. But now you're into the hotel where the president of the United States was going to stay. And it just gets more troubling," Lieberman said. 
 
 Lieberman told Fox News Sunday there is "no evidence that information was compromised" in the incidents. Those involved "were not acting like Secret Service agents. They were acting like a bunch of college students away on a spring student weekend," Lieberman said. 
 
 King, Lieberman and other leaders of congressional committees examining the scandal made the rounds on Sunday news shows. Generally, they said the scandal was being closely scrutinized on Capitol Hill and voiced support for Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan's handling of the matter. 
 
 Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod said the allegations are disturbing, but that the misdeeds of a few individuals should not tarnish the overall work and reputation of the service. 
 
 Axelrod told CNN's "State of the Union" that he always felt the agents were willing to go to great lengths to protect the president and the people around him. He called the conduct in Colombia "really disappointing." 
 
 "I think we will get to the bottom of it," said Axelrod, who worked at the White House before leaving last year to work full time in Obama's re-election campaign office in Chicago. 
 
 He later told NBC that "on the whole, the Secret Service does heroic work. This is quite disturbing. We have to get to the bottom of this, and I'm sure we will." 
 
 Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a frequent critic of the president, declined to fault the White House's response. "You know, I'm not critical of what the administration has done thus far," he told CBS. "I think what we're seeing is an aberration." 
 
 Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the senior Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., both said that more female Secret Service agents might help guard against such incidents from happening again. 
 
 "I can't help but wonder if there had been more women as part of that detail, if this ever would have happened," Collins said on ABC's "This Week." 
 
 Maloney told the same program that only 11 percent of the Secret Service's agents are women. 
 
 "I can't help but keeping asking this question: Where are the women? We probably need to diversify the service and have more minorities and more women," Maloney said. 
 
 Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told NBC that the episode was "something the Secret Service can fix. We have confidence that it will be fixed." 
 
 "The most important thing is that this never happens again," Issa said. 
 
 Ralph Basham, a former Secret Service Director, told CBS the behavior of those implicated in the scandal "could have compromised the trip and the safety of the president." ||||| Story highlights Senate committee Chairman Lieberman asks whether there's a pattern of misconduct 
 
 House committee Chairman King asks for minute-by-minute timeline 
 
 The actions of a few should not denigrate the many professionals, Axelrod says 
 
 Collins and Maloney suggest more female agents could help avoid such a scandal 
 
 A Senate committee will expand its probe into the U.S. Secret Service this week following a scandal involving prostitutes in Colombia in advance of a recent trip by the president. 
 
 The Homeland Security Committee will send the Secret Service "some questions this week, as the beginning of our broader investigation, asking whether... this was an exception, or is there anything in the records that show this is a pattern of misconduct that has gone on elsewhere by Secret Service agents on assignment, but off-duty?" Sen. Joe Lieberman, the committee chairman, told "Fox News Sunday." 
 
 "Why wasn't it noticed if that was the case? What's the Secret Service going to do to make sure it never happens again?" 
 
 Some Secret Service members and agents allegedly brought back several prostitutes to a hotel in Cartagena, according to sources familiar with the U.S. government's investigation. 
 
 The Secret Service says 12 members of the agency have been implicated in the incident. 
 
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 Across the Sunday political talk shows, officials expressed confidence in Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, saying they believe he has handled the scandal well and will get answers. 
 
 "History is full of cases where enemies have compromised" people with security or intelligence information through sex, said Lieberman, I-Connecticut. He added that based on what he has been told so far, "there is no evidence that information was compromised" in this case. 
 
 Down the road, the committee will hold a public hearing on the matter -- perhaps more than one, Lieberman said. 
 
 "Anyone who's found to be guilty" will lose his job, Rep. Peter King, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told NBC's "Meet the Press." 
 
 King told CNN last week that four investigators were assigned to his committee's probe. 
 
 One person who was "partially exonerated" will instead likely face administrative action, King said. 
 
 In a letter sent to Sullivan on Friday, King listed a series of questions, including how many employees were aware of the alleged incident and how many total employees were in Cartagena in support of President Obama's trip to the Summit of the Americas when the incident occurred earlier this month. 
 
 "Please provide a comprehensive, minute-by-minute timeline of all known actions, locations, and possible violations of U.S. or Colombia law," codes of conduct, and directives, King wrote in the letter. 
 
 But King and other officials are quick to emphasize that those allegedly involved in cavorting with prostitutes at a hotel in Cartagena are the exceptions. 
 
 "In any organization things can go wrong," President Obama's chief campaign strategist David Axelrod told CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday. "I must say that in my experience the Secret Service has been completely professional, so impressive. I always felt like they were ... willing to do anything to protect the president and the people around the president. And so this was really disappointing. 
 
 "Obviously we have to get to the bottom of it, but those problems should not denigrate the efforts of so many who do such a good job." 
 
 Sen. Susan Collins, ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney of the House Oversight Committee suggested having more female agents could help avoid such scandals. 
 
 "I can't help but wonder if there'd been more women as part of that detail if this ever would have happened," Collins told ABC's "This Week." 
 
 Maloney agreed, and added that she was told 11% of agents in the Secret Service are women. The agency did not immediately confirm the figure to CNN Sunday. 
 
 "We probably need to diversify the Secret Service and have more minorities and more women," she said. 
 
 Six Secret Service members have left their jobs in the wake of the incident in Cartagena, Colombia, which came while they were on a security detail in advance of President Obama's trip for the Summit of the Americas. 
 
 One employee "has been cleared of serious misconduct, but will face administrative action," the Secret Service said. 
 
 Five employees are on administrative leave and have had their security clearances temporarily revoked. 
 
 In addition, the U.S. military is investigating 11 of its own troops for possible heavy drinking and consorting with prostitutes. 
 
 White House staff have not been implicated in the controversy. 
 
 After the scandal broke, President Obama called for a "thorough" and "rigorous" invsetigation. "If it turns out that some of the allegations that have been made in the press are confirmed, then of course I'll be angry," he said. ||||| Three more Secret Service officers resigned Friday in the expanding prostitution scandal that has brought scorching criticism of agents' behavior in Colombia just before President Barack Obama's visit for a summit meeting last week. Agency Director Mark Sullivan came to the White House late Friday to personally brief Obama in the Oval Office. 
 
 FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2008 file photo, a Secret Service agent stands near then presidential candidate Barack Obama, background, at a rally in Norfolk, Va. Moving swiftly, the Secret Service forced out... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this photo taken Oct. 4, 2008, David Chaney, right, who identified himself on his Facebook account as a member of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s Secret Service detail, watches... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this June 30, 2010 file photo, Senate Judiciary Committee member, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sessions told reporters Thursday, the president should take... (Associated Press) 
 
 The Secret Service announced the new resignations, bringing to six the number of agency officers who have lost their jobs so far because of events at their hotel in Cartagena. 
 
 An additional agency employee was implicated Friday, a government official said, commenting only on condition of anonymity concerning the continuing investigation. That brings the number to 12. One has been cleared of serious misconduct but still faces administrative action, an official said. 
 
 Obama's spokesman has assailed Republican criticism that has attempted to blame a lack of presidential leadership for the scandal and has said Obama would be angry if allegations published so far proved to be true. Friday's was Obama's first personal briefing by Sullivan on the subject, officials said. 
 
 Eleven Secret Service employees had been noted earlier. The 12th has been placed on administrative leave. 
 
 The scandal also involves at least 11 military members who were working on security before Obama arrived in Cartagena for the Summit of the Americas. The Pentagon acknowledged Friday that the 11th military person, a member of the Army, was implicated. 
 
 The incident in Colombia involved at least some Secret Service personnel bringing prostitutes to their hotel rooms. News of the incident, which involves at least 20 Colombian women, broke a week ago after a fight over payment between a prostitute and a Secret Service agent spilled into the hotel hallway. A 24-year-old Colombian prostitute told The New York Times that the agent agreed to pay her $800 for a night of sex but the next morning offered her only $30. She eventually left the hotel, she told the newspaper, after she was paid $225. 
 
 Two Secret Service supervisors and another employee were forced out of the agency earlier in the week. All of the agents being investigated have had their top-secret clearances revoked. 
 
 Meanwhile, the lawyer for two Secret Service supervisors said that Obama's safety was never at risk, and he criticized leaks of internal government investigations in the case, signaling a possible strategy for an upcoming legal defense. 
 
 The Secret Service briefed about two-dozen congressional staff members Friday, mainly from the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to one individual who was there but was not authorized to be quoted by name. 
 
 The person said investigators have photo ID's and names from a Cartagena, Colombia, hotel registry for all the women who stayed overnight and are in the process of conducting interviews. Investigators have interviewed maids and said no alcohol or drugs were found in the rooms. 
 
 Those under investigation were offered polygraphs and drug tests. It is unclear whether anyone accepted, the person said. 
 
 As for the military personnel involved, Pentagon press secretary George Little said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was getting regular updates on the investigation. 
 
 "He understands the level of interest in this issue," Little said. "He has serious concerns about the alleged misconduct." 
 
 Little said members of Congress have not yet been briefed on the military investigation but would be "in the near future." 
 
 In a letter to Secret Service employees Monday and obtained by the AP, Director Sullivan said the agency had moved in a "swift, decisive manner immediately after this incident was brought to our attention." He praised "the overwhelming majority" of employees who he said had acted with the "highest levels of professionalism and ethical behavior." 
 
 "Our job, our mission, our responsibility is to the president, the American people and the individuals we are entrusted to protect," Sullivan said. "This is not just a matter of honor, although this is critical. It is imperative, as part of our sworn duties, to always act both personally and professionally in a manner that recognizes the seriousness and consequence of our mission." 
 
 In Colombia Friday, Colombian prosecutors spent more than three hours questioning a taxi driver who led reporters to the home of the young woman who he said was the prostitute who launched the scandal by complaining of not being paid by a Secret Service agent at the Hotel Caribe. 
 
 A senior official in the local prosecutor's office said the driver, Jose Pena, was not suspected of any crime but that a Colombian investigation into the case began Thursday to ensure that none of the prostitutes involved was a minor. 
 
 There is no information indicating a crime was committed, said the official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name. 
 
 The prosecutor's office official said the Colombian investigation was separate from U.S. probes and that Colombian investigators had not been in touch with the U.S. investigators. The official also said the Colombian investigators did not have and had not asked for a copy of the security videotapes from inside the hotel. 
 
 Pena told the AP Friday morning that he had not spoken with any U.S. investigators. He did not answer his phone after he met with Colombian investigators. 
 
 The lawyer for ousted Secret Service supervisors David Chaney and Greg Stokes, Lawrence Berger of New York, said Friday that leaks surrounding the investigations "distort the process." 
 
 Regardless of what happened inside hotel rooms, Berger said, it never jeopardized the president's security. Berger said he could not comment on the woman's claims about being paid for sex, but he added, "I don't think anything she has said is material to any of the issues I am pressing with my clients." 
 
 "Nothing that has been reported in the press in any way negatively or adversely impacted the mission of that agency or the safety of the president of the United States," Berger said. 
 
 Chaney and Stokes were forced out of the agency Wednesday. A third agent, who has not been identified and was not a supervisor, resigned. 
 
 On Chaney's Facebook account, which was made inaccessible on Friday, Chaney joked about his work with former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin while he was protecting her in 2008. The AP published a photograph it took of Chaney working in Palin's protective detail in October 2008 during a campaign rally in Carson, Calif. 
 
 "I was really checking her out, if you know what i mean?" Chaney wrote after a friend commented on the picture posted in January 2009 on Chaney's Facebook account. 
 
 Speaking on Fox News late Thursday, Palin said the joke was on Chaney. 
 
 "Well, check this out, buddy _ you're fired!" Palin said. 
 
 The agency's investigation has included interviews of agents and hotel staff. Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said this week that investigators in Colombia have not been able to interview the women. 
 
 The affair has also prompted a military investigation of the service members, including six members of the Army, two Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal technicians, two Marine dog handlers and an Air Force airman. 
 
 An Air Force colonel and a military lawyer were also dispatched to Colombia this week. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, patronizing prostitutes is a crime for military personnel. It is referred to as "compelling, inducing, enticing or procuring a person to have sex in exchange for money; or receiving money for arranged sex." 
 
 Officials from U.S. Southern Command, which organized the military role for the security operation, have not provided details of its probe beyond saying that at least some of the military members violated curfew and may have been involved in "inappropriate conduct." 
 
 White House press secretary Jay Carney has said it is "preposterous to politicize" the issue, responding to criticism from Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions and Palin, who have said the allegations reflect poor management of the government under Obama. 
 
 Palin described the affair Thursday as a "symptom of government run amok." 
 
 "It's like, who's minding the store around here?" Palin said. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Eileen Sullivan, Laurie Kellman, Robert Burns, Larry Margasak, and Julie Pace in Washington, Nomaan Merchant in Dallas and Frank Bajak in Cartagena, Colombia, contributed to this report. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/acaldwellap
– Heads probably haven't finished rolling at the Secret Service over its prostitution scandal, Rep. Peter King said today on Meet the Press, saying he expected "several" members to depart in the "near future." The House Homeland Security chair promised a thorough investigation, and has already sent a letter to the agency demanding answers to 50 questions, like whether agents used their expense accounts to pay their paramours, Fox News reports. He's not alone; the Senate will be expanding its investigation too, Joe Lieberman said today, according to CNN. Secret Service officials also confirmed today that one of the 12 agents implicated in the scandal so far was staying at a different hotel than the other 11—the same hotel that President Obama would eventually stay in, the AP reports. "It just gets more troubling," Lieberman said, though he cautioned that, "We don't know at this point what that 12th agent is being charged with." Lieberman and King weren't the only lawmakers discussing the scandal either; click for more from our Sunday talk show roundup.