Tareq And Michaele Salahi: White House Party Crashers Walk Into State Dinner, Put Arm Around Joe Biden (VIDEO)

Tareq and Michaele Salahi, aspiring members of the cast of a reality show called "The Real Housewives of DC," crashed Tuesday's state dinner at the White House. Facebook photos of the couple posing with Vice President Joe Biden and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel indicate that the couple had up-close access to some of Washington's elite, without actually being on the guest list. The couple maintains they were invited and a lawyer speaking for them says they have nothing to worry about.


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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Crashing a state dinner at the White House apparently takes a security breakdown as well as some kind of nerve.

The Secret Service is looking into its own security procedures after determining that a Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, managed to slip into Tuesday night's state dinner at the White House even though they were not on the guest list, agency spokesman Ed Donovan said.

President Barack Obama was never in any danger because the party crashers went through the same security screening for weapons as the 300-plus people actually invited to the dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Donovan said.

Donovan confirmed the identities of the couple. The Washington Post, which first reported on their evening out, said the Salahis were well-known in the Virginia horse-country set.

The Secret Service learned about the security breach Wednesday after a media inquiry prompted by the Salahis' online boasts about having attended the private event, Donovan said.

One of the many photos from the dinner posted on Michaele Salahi's Facebook page shows the couple with a smiling Vice President Joe Biden. In other photos, they appear alone or together with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, CBS News anchor Katie Couric, Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., and three Marines in their dress blues.

Donovan would not comment on whether the couple had been contacted by the Secret Service, how long they were on the White House grounds or other details of the investigation.

The agency's Office of Professional Responsibility was reviewing what occurred. An initial finding indicated that a checkpoint did not follow proper procedures to ensure the two were on the guest list, Donovan said.

"It's important to note that they went through all the security screenings - the magnetometer screening - just like all the other guests did," Donovan said. And, he added, Obama and others under Secret Service protection had their usual security details with them at the dinner.

Comments

[badzooki]

04:04 PM on 12/04/2009

Let's collect statistics on "how many years in prison are these two going to get." So sad.

[redhed]

01:28 PM on 12/03/2009

What a bunch of wannabe, nobodies! Don't they have anything better to do?

[24kgold]

08:31 AM on 12/03/2009

Everyone excepted responsibility so that's it and that's all folks. Lets move on and stop with the fake outrage of the right about Obama's safety and lets get back to talking about the issues. The left always fall for the rights tactics and then the media follows.

[24kgold]

08:32 AM on 12/03/2009

Accepted, sorry

[angie s]

04:10 PM on 12/02/2009

They didn't do anything wrong. It's the SS fault that they were let in if they were supposedly not on the list. Did any of you actually read the emails? Someone said that they were allowed in. You guys are all idiots thinking these innocent people should go to jail. So, when the SS fails at what they're supposed to do, they just blame it one someone else. Impressive.

[702diva]

09:02 AM on 12/03/2009

These people CLEARLY and KNOWINGLY scammed their way into the White House. They DID NOT have an invite to the White House State Dinner. Their so-called "friend" at the Defense Dept. stated in emails that she did not have the authority to get them an invite, yet they showed up and waltzed on in anyway. Just like the did this past Sept. 26 when they did the exact same thing at a Congressional Black Caucus fundraiser that President Obama was scheduled to speak at.

The Salahis had to be escorted out this Sept. 26th CBC event once they were caught sitting in some other guests seats, and couldn't produce tickets. These people are dangerous and should definitely be investigated by the Secret Service and prosecuted if any actual laws were broken. They seem to be shadowing the President of the U.S. and making a mockery of his security detail. Who knows how far these poseurs would have taken their CONTINUAL antics of showing up at Presidential events without invite or security clearance. This we will never know because their latest stunt was exposed once they bragged about it on Facebook.

Now that they have gotten caught in the act, they are Lying and feigning like they are the victims; so typical!

[angie s]

03:15 PM on 12/03/2009

Read the emails again. They said their phone was dead and they couldn't recieve a call, so they checked to see if they were on the list. And they were let in. Then, they emailed the "friend" and told her about what happened, and she talked about it as if she DID get them in. If they did actually get in, WITHOUT being on the list, then its the security's fault. Not theirs. They thought they might be allowed in because they didn't get a chance to recieve confirmation, and they innocently checked. They didn't scam or sneak their way in. They were LET in by security. The friend said nothing about her 'authority', and she said she'd try her very best to get them on the list.

[mllindsay]

09:13 PM on 12/13/2009

I agree, what's wrong with Security?

[MaryEllenBlair]

09:48 PM on 11/30/2009

Tareq & Michaele are the biggest tools and are just wrong.....they need to be put in a hospital and studied..and this is all to be on a reality tv show....

[mlouises]

08:46 PM on 11/30/2009

Am I the only one who has noticed that:
1) Michaela is wearing a sari-style dress at the White House crash site
2) India is playing in the next Americas Polo Cup and tickets for that are on sale now
3) A number of sponsors are listed on the APC website but the OFFICIAL sponsors include Blackwater and Smith and Wesson?

In watching the YouTube video of their wedding, one can only feel sad for the lack of sincere connection between the couple. In reading their Wikipedia entries, it appears that they have been in legal battles with almost everyone, including Tareq's parents. Their winery was involved in, and perhaps even sold, in bankruptcy. I hope everyone encourages this couple to spend more time in the limelight. It is, apparently, all they have.

[LaDVna]

02:31 PM on 11/30/2009

Clearly a breach of security which the secret Service has owned up to, but what about the Social Office? This is headed by Desiree Rogers, a former Chicago lottery exec, ex-wife of Obama friend and head of Ariel Investments with a Harvard MBA... She recently attended Fashion Week and photographed with Anna Wintour. Was she present at the first State Dinner of the Obama administration? Exactly what is the job responsibility of the Social Secretary and the Social Office? Why is there a seemingly concerted effort by the Obama administration to deflect any attention and blame from the Social Office? Hmnnn, interesting...

[Lemmy]

12:22 PM on 11/30/2009

Biden:

"Come over here you two. You look great! How long has it been?"

[harriettubman]

09:12 PM on 11/29/2009

What a horrific breach of security!!! There was no accountability whatsoever in the Bush administration. Folks didn't do their jobs but kept them. This should not happen in the Obama administration. Some heads need to roll! If this couple looked Middle Eastern, Indian, Hispanic or Black, they would never have gotten in.

Same thing for Ft. Hood too. All the superiors who igored the verbal and written warnings about Major Hasad need to be relieved of duty. When Major Hasad requested punishment for troops he counseled that had been to the Middle East, that was a RED FLAG!

[Martha12]

06:43 PM on 11/29/2009

They were definitely NOT on the guest list, so they could not POSSIBLY have had a bona fide invitation.

Since this was a huge fraud, planned and aided by the Bravo TV team...... ....they could all be charged under the RICO Act.

Both the couple and Bravo stand to make a great deal of money from this stunt. This is a clear conspiracy between these parties for financial gain.

We have yet to know for certain, if anyone else was involved, and/or bribery was committed.

RICO offenses

Under the law, racketeering activity means:

Any violation of state statutes against gambling, murder, kidnapping, extortion, arson, robbery, bribery, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined in the Controlled Substances Act);

Any act of bribery, counterfeiting, theft, embezzlement, fraud, dealing in obscene matter, obstruction of justice, slavery, racketeering, gambling, money laundering, commission of murder-for-hire, and several other offenses covered under the Federal criminal code (Title 18);

Embezzlement of union funds;
Bankruptcy fraud or securities fraud;
Drug trafficking;
Money laundering and related offenses;
Bringing in, aiding or assisting aliens in illegally entering the country (if the action was for financial gain);
Acts of terrorism.

[DesertShores]

11:00 PM on 11/29/2009

Because too many men think with their crotches! Notice how quickly Joe was to have his picture taken with a pretty woman? Sorry, pretty girls are kryptonite to security guards etc.

[zg1968]

01:07 PM on 11/30/2009

Where's the pretty girl? I just see an old bag trying too hard to look young.

[rosiebond007]

11:18 AM on 11/29/2009

Jail these two birds !

Mug shots on Facebook - PRONTO !!

[mmgbizgirl]

10:36 AM on 11/29/2009

The S.S. should be investigated immediately.

[dianejay]

09:46 PM on 11/28/2009

The Salahi's should star in the reality show, "Jail Time". I would watch this show.

[Taylor Lauder]

09:25 PM on 11/28/2009

Strangely, these people even have the time to smile in front of the camera, knowing what they did was already degrading. OMG. I kind of remember the people who live in the suburbs thinking its "just okay" to appear on a house... just when a banquet is about to end like a mushroom..­.....

So this happens in Politics too?

detailed sources: http://bit.ly/tareq-salahi-worst-party-crashers-best-or-worst

[Jack78]

04:09 PM on 11/28/2009

Who was at the State Dinner, and why was this breach a threat to national security?

Here is the Presidential Line of Succession
1 Vice President — Joe Biden
2 Speaker of the House of Representatives– Nancy Pelosi
3 President pro tempore of the Senate – Robert Byrd
4 Secretary of State – Hillary Clinton
5 Secretary of the Treasury– Timothy Geithner
6 Secretary of Defense – Robert Gates
7 Attorney General – Eric Holder

Outside of Senator Byrd, everyone else was at the State Dinner.

There were two of them, and if they had more sinister motives, they could have divvied up the list, and set about causing instability in the United States Executive Branch.

[Mabo]

11:29 PM on 11/28/2009

Yikes! We could have had Robert "Sheets" Byrd as president by default. That IS a scary thought...

[harriettubman]

09:14 PM on 11/29/2009

Pelosi is enough to go YIKES!!