Eric Holder sends Justice Department memo reminding employees not to solicit prostitutes

Attorney general says even if prostitution is legal, US agents should not engage

(Getty Images)

US Attorney General Eric Holder recently sent out a friendly memo to all Justice Department employees advising them not to solicit prostitutes, even if they are working in a region that allows prostitution.

In the memo, Mr Holder seems less concerned with the moral issue of agents actually hiring prostitutes and more concerned with the implications of sex trafficking, according to a report from the Washington Post.

“Regardless of whether prostitution is legal or tolerated in a particular jurisdiction soliciting prostitutes creates a greater demand for human trafficking victims and a consequent increase in the number of minor and adult persons trafficked into commercial sex slavery,” Mr Holder wrote.

The memo likely was prompted by a report last month that said Drug Enforcement Administration agents took part in so-called sex parties in Colombia where prostitutes were present, which apparently were funded by drug cartels.

The agents denied knowing that the prostitutes were supplied by the cartels, but the department determined that “case files suggest they should have known the prostitutes in attendance were paid with cartel funds”.

The report found that the alleged activity happened over a number of years and that, in addition to the so-called sex parties, the agents were also provided with money, gifts and weapons from cartel members.

After that report was released, Mr Holder evidently determined it was time to remind Justice Department employees that US agents probably should not be fraternizing with prostitutes.