President Obama orders review of Crashers
President Barack Obama has ordered a full review into how a Virginia couple managed to make their way into the White House for last week's state dinner without an invitation, even getting so far as to meet the president in the official receiving line, according to a White House official.
Three days after a pair of Virginia socialites and reality TV wannabes crashed the administration's first state dinner, the White House acknowledged for the first time Friday that they met Obama himself at the event – raising even more questions about whether the breach could have posed a security risk.
“The men and women of the Secret Service put their lives on the line everyday to protect us, they are heroes and they have the full confidence of the President of United States,” said White House spokesman Nick Shapiro in a statement issued Friday evening. “The White House asked the United States Secret Service to do a full review and they are doing that. The United States Secret Service said they made a mistake and they are taking action to identify exactly what happened and they will take the appropriate measures pending the results of their investigation.”
The White House and the U.S. Secret Service offered few details about how Tareq and Michaele Salahi, managed to end up in the receiving line.
So far, findings have revealed a breakdown at one of the security checkpoints, according to an agent, and criminal charges against the Salahis are still a possibility, according to authorities.
On Friday, according to several reports, Secret Service agents visited a Virginia winery owned by the Tareq Salahi's parents, who agents spoke with. The couple, who live in Front Royal, was not there.
A woman who answered the phone at the winery in Hume, Va., refused to comment about the visit.
The couple initially boasted of their exploits on their Facebook page – where they posted pictures of themselves with Vice President Joe Biden and other dignitaries at the event.
The Salahis, aspiring reality television stars who pulled off what appears to be a state dinner first, will tell their side of the story on Monday during a sit-down with CNN's Larry King Live.
Their lawyer, Paul W. Gardner posted a message to the couple's Facebook page saying that his clients were cleared in by the White House.
Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said that there is nothing in the investigation so far to indicate that the couple, who was trailed by a crew from Bravo’s reality TV show, "Real Housewives" for much of the day, was waved in by the White House.
The episode has proven deeply embarrassing for the White House and the Secret Service.
"The Secret Service is deeply concerned and embarrassed by the circumstances surrounding the State Dinner on Tuesday, November 24. The preliminary findings of our internal investigation have determined established protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint, verifying that two individuals were on the guest list," said Secret Service Director, Mark Sullivan. "Although these individuals went through magnetometers and other levels of screening, they should have been prohibited from entering the event entirely. That failing is ours."
Further details about the extent of that failing are expected to be released sometime next week, according to Mackin.
The White House referred most questions to the Secret Service, but sources familiar with procedures during big White House events said that typically someone from the Office of the Social Secretary would be at one of the secret service checkpoints just in case there is any confusion. While rare, guests can be inadvertently left off a list, the source said.
Responding to a question about whether her staff was represented at any of the checkpoints, Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, told AP: "We were not." Yet there were also no attempts by agents at the checkpoint to contact the social office, a source said.
NBC News anchor, Brian Williams, an invited guest, saw the couple arrive by car at the East Gate of the White House, yet said the Salahi's vehicle was turned away.
"Actually the first ring of Secret Service security had worked," Williams said on Thursday's nightly broadcast. "After their vehicle was turned away, they hopped out. What attracted our attention was there was at least one camera trailing them. And a makeup woman got out and fixed the woman’s hair and then started powdering the man's forehead."
The couple then went to the pedestrian entrance and what happened at that security checkpoint is the focus of the inquiry. What the couple said to gain entry to the White House is unclear.
From that checkpoint, the couple likely walked into the East Wing visitor entrance and were greeted by military aides. Facebook photos show Michaele Tareq posing with three men in military dress—and someone from the White House social office was likely on hand to greet them as well.
The couple was swept by security at that point but no longer had to show identification once they were in the White House, a source familiar with the procedure said.
The Virginia socialites then walked by a crew of photographers and reporters about 45 minutes before the dinner started, posed for pictures and then likely went upstairs to the reception. The White House said they were never seated at the dinner.
Criminal charges against the couple, who posted pictures of themselves posing in the tent on the South Lawn with chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel, are still a possibility.
"We are not ruling anything out we just need to let the investigation proceed," Mackin said. "We need to verify and make sure we talk to everybody involved."
Mackin stressed that the couple was swept for weapons, yet Ronald Kessler, author of "In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes With Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect," said a metal detector search couldn’t offer full protection.
"There are so many ways to kill a person other than coming in with a weapon," Kessler said on CNN. "Once they were in, they could have grabbed a knife and put it through the heart of the president."
During his campaign for the White House, Barack Obama was assigned secret service in May of 2007 because of security concerns -- the earliest of any candidate in history.
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Sources: Politico, White House.gov, Google Maps
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