US names FBI veteran to be interim DEA director

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch has named veteran FBI agent Chuck Rosenberg to take over as interim Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) director after the resignation of his predecessor as a result of the scandal involving agents and prostitutes in Colombia.

Rosenberg, who to date was chief of staff for FBI Director James Comey, will temporarily replace Michele Leonhart, who was harshly criticised by both Republican and Democrat lawmakers after the publication last March of a report revealing that several DEA agents had participated in "sex parties" with prostitutes, Efe news agency reported.

The 139-page report, published by the Justice Department, accused the agents of endangering national security by holding "sex parties", allegedly paid for with drug trafficking money, in US government buildings abroad.

Leonhart left the DEA last month after eight years in the post after 13 Democrats and nine Republicans in the House of Representatives signed a bipartisan statement calling for her resignation for not imposing sufficiently weighty sanctions on the agents.

The nomination of the new DEA chief falls within the purview of US President Barack Obama, although a nominee must be confirmed in the post by Congress, which is in the hands of the Republican opposition.

Lynch said in a statement that Rosenberg is an exceptional leader with "unshakable integrity", adding that he "is one of the finest people and public servants I have ever known".

As chief of staff for Comey, Rosenberg worked closely with top FBI officials on counter-terrorism, intelligence and cybercrime issues, the statement announcing his nomination said.

In the report on the "sex parties", the Justice Department did not specify the country in which the parties were held, although a top government official cited by media confirmed that it was Colombia.

Colombia became the scene of another prostitution scandal involving several Secret Service agents just before Obama arrived in the city of Cartagena to participate in the Summit of the Americas held on April 9-15, 2012.