A couple of aspiring reality-TV stars from Northern Virginia appear to have crashed the White House’s state dinner Tuesday night, penetrating layers of security with no invitation to mingle with the likes of Vice President Biden and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
Tareq and Michaele Salahi — polo-playing socialites known for a bitter family feud over a Fauquier County winery and their possible roles in the forthcoming "The Real Housewives of Washington" — were seen arriving at the White House and later posted on Facebook photos of themselves with VIPs at the elite gathering.
"Honored to be at the White House for the state dinner in honor of India with President Obama and our First Lady!" one of them wrote on their joint Facebook page…
But a White House official said the couple were not invited to the dinner, not included on the official guest list and never seated at a table in the South Lawn tent…
While the White House offered no official explanation, it appears to be the first time in modern history that anyone has crashed a White House state dinner. The uninvited guests were in the same room as President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, although it is unknown whether they met the Obamas and the guest of honor.
"Everyone who enters the White House grounds goes through magnetometers and several other levels of screenings," said Ed Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service. "That was the case with the state dinner last night. No one was under any risk or threat."
Donovan said a preliminary internal investigation Wednesday identified "a Secret Service checkpoint which did not follow proper procedure to ensure these two individuals were on the invited guest list." He declined to give further details. An administration official said the White House will conduct its own review…
Ms. Salahi’s [Facebook] profile also revealed a possible link to one of the dinner guests. In one of her photographs, Ms. Salahi and her husband are shown drinking wine and celebrating at the Indian embassy with Arun K. Singh — the Deputy Chief of Mission at the embassy — for the kickoff of a polo match between India and the United States earlier this year. Ambassador Singh was on the guest list for the state dinner Tuesday night.
