US federal government employees working abroad are considered to be on-duty 24/7, for a number of reasons (insurance, public relations, contacts with foreign nationals, etc.). Thus a code of conduct appropriate to the workplace is expected. While I don’t much care from a personal point of view that the agents went to prostitutes, from a professional point of view it’s not good conduct. There are simply too many ways the agent could be compromised, especially since they are performing a security function.
I was a federal employee (an engineer) in a much less security conscious role, but I had to follow the rules while on international travel. I think visiting a prostitute would have been frowned on, had it come out. (I doubt that “don’t go to prostitutes” was explicitly in the rules, but I’m not stupid enough to imagine what it would be considered.)
