WASHINGTON — David Nieland, who helped draw attention to what he said were shortcomings in the government’s probe of a Secret Service prostitution scandal, resigned from his job at the Department of Homeland Security inspector general on Aug. 9, months after he was caught up police prostitution sting.
Deputies in Broward County, Florida, conducting an anti-prostitution operation on May 2 stopped Nieland after he was seen entering and leaving a location they were monitoring for prostitution activity, according to U.S. government sources.
Nieland was an investigator with the DHS inspector general, who claimed that political interference appeared to cause the inspector general to hold back findings in an investigation of Secret Service agents involved with prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia.
The Office of Inspector General confirmed that Nieland “separated” from federal service in August, but added “As a matter of policy, the OIG does not comment on investigative or personnel matters.”
U.S. government sources said Nieland, wearing casual clothing including khakis, told deputies who stopped him he was there as a law enforcement officer working on an anti-human trafficking operation.
His story prompted the deputies to stop their operation, for fear of conflicting with a federal probe, according to those U.S. government sources. Nieland told his bosses that he had been stopped because of a broken taillight, but his superiors found out from local authorities that he was caught in the local prostitution operation.
CNN attempted to reach Nieland in recent weeks without success.
He told the New York Times the story wasn’t true.
