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White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers To Step Down
White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers told me Friday she will step down next month, after presiding over 330 events in the White House in 14 months.
Rogers is departing after achieving a major goal of President Obama and First Lady Michelle -- opening up the White House to make it the "peoples house."
"As we turn the corner on the first year," Rogers told me, "this is a good time for me to explore opportunities in the corporate world."
Rogers told me it has been "an honor and a privilege to serve this president and First Lady, in what has certainly been a historic presidency."
Rogers, a friend of the First Couple for years, was one of the first Obama administration appointees.
"When I took on this assignment, we talked about the importance of creating the people's house. My work was really to create this framework," she told me.
"I think I completed that work. Our office has been able to lay the foundation for what will be known as the 'people's house' and it has already taken shape."
Rogers tenure was marked by high points--she was a moving force behind a White House music series--and a low point, when the Obama's first state dinner was crashed by a publicity seeking couple, Tareq and Michaele Salahi. Though the Secret Service immediately said it was their fault--agents did not follow security protocols--Rogers got some of the blame.
I asked Rogers if the Salahi episode was a factor in her resignation. "The incident at the State Dinner was not a deciding factor," she told me. "But it did show me a side of the job and of Washington that I had not seen before."
After I spoke to Rogers, President Obama and First Lady Michelle said in a statement, "We are enormously grateful to Desiree Rogers for the terrific job she's done as the White House Social Secretary.
When she took this position, we asked Desiree to help make sure that the White House truly is the People's House, and she did that by welcoming scores of everyday Americans through its doors, from wounded warriors to local schoolchildren to NASCAR drivers. She organized hundreds of fun and creative events during her time here, and we will miss her. We thank her again for her service and wish her all the best in her future endeavors."
I've been told by several sources that Rogers will be replaced by Julianna Smoot, the chief of staff to the U.S. Trade Representative who was the Obama presidential campaign chief fund-raiser.
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Alleged Dinner Crashers Invoke Fifth Amendment Rights
In what one member of Congress called "a charade," a couple that showed up at President Obama's first state dinner -- uninvited, the White House claims -- declined to answer questions surrounding the event before a House committee Wednesday.
Under questioning from House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, and others, Tareq Salahi repeated over and over again, "On the advice of counsel, I respectfully assert my right to remain silent and decline to answer your question."
The Salahis' attorney notified the committee in December that because of a pending investigation by federal prosecutors, they would not answer questions about how they gained entry to the White House on November 24, despite not being on the guest list to attend that night's state dinner for the prime minister of India.
In a brief statement that opened the often-contentious hearing, Salahi chastised the committee for requiring the couple to appear despite having been told the two would invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if subpoenaed. That, he alleged, is against the ethical rules of the Washington bar.
He incensed some committee members by reiterating the couple's respect for U.S. troops, the Secret Service and the president.
"You have shown effrontery here," said Daniel Lungren, R-California. He called it "an abomination" that the Salahis would invoke the name of those in uniform "and suggest that somehow what you do provides support to them."
"The Constitution protects fools," Lungren said. "The Constitution protects stupidity. The Constitution protects errant thought. Thank God it does."
"This was not a hearing looking for information," the couple's attorney, Stephen Best, told reporters after the hearing. "This was an opportunity for a public flogging."
"I think today's procedure is a charade," Rep. Mark Souder, R-Indiana, said in the hearing, referring to the Salahis' refusal to answer questions.
Other committee members also lambasted the couple, alleging they put their own desire for celebrity before the security of the president and are wasting the committee's time and taxpayers' money.
"I don't respect your right to take the Fifth Amendment. Not at all," Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-New Jersey, told the couple.
"Were you there?" he asked Salahi, referring to the dinner.
When Salahi began, "On the advice ..." Pascrell interrupted him, asking, "Are you here right now? You gonna get an answer from your attorney on that?"
Pascrell noted the committee had offered to allow the couple to speak behind closed doors. After conferring with his attorney, Salahi said, "Yes, but you didn't offer us any legal protection."
Salahi's wife, Michaele, also invoked her Fifth Amendment right under questioning by committee members, but replied, "yes," when asked if she would return to testify after the investigation has concluded.
Asked by Thompson whether the state dinner appearance was part of a "reality TV stunt," Tareq Salahi said the couple was under a non-disclosure agreement and "should not discuss matters related to the television matter."
The Salahis contend they were told they could attend the program to honor India's prime minister, but the White House says they were not invited and were not on the guest list for the exclusive affair.
Best said after the hearing the couple received "representations that they relied upon" that they were invited guests. Two Secret Service investigators were privy to this information from a person who knows the Salahis, he said. "This was not a stunt, and they committed no criminal act."
There was no connection to any reality TV show, he said, and the Salahis were not seeking publicity. The couple has turned down multiple offers from the media to be "rewarded handsomely," he added.
"Whatever the real story is, it's on the other side of the gates of the White House, not with the Salahis," Best said. "They thought they were invited. ... If it was a misunderstanding, it was a misunderstanding caused by representatives of the government."
Tareq Salahi also noted in his opening statement that the couple's attorneys have offered to provide information to the committee, but that offer was declined by Thompson's staff.
"Those offers are not satisfactory," Thompson said. "These lawyers were not at the state dinner and have no firsthand knowledge of the facts."
Tareq Salahi also said the couple has provided phone records, e-mails and other documentary evidence to the committee.
There also was criticism of the White House in Wednesday's hearing.
Rep. Peter King, R-New York, said the White House "continues to stonewall" and will not allow social secretary Desiree Rogers to testify on the security breach.
Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs has said that allowing a White House staff member to testify before a congressional committee would violate the Constitution's separation of powers.
"I don't know what the White House is trying to hide," King said. "Obviously, something went wrong, and it originated with the White House, not the Secret Service."
Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, in previous testimony before the committee, took responsibility for the security breach, acknowledging that "appropriate procedures were not followed."
Rep. Charles Dent, R-Pennsylvania, said Wednesday he thought it was "unfortunate" that Sullivan "had to take all that grief from us."
"I hold you responsible for it," he told the Salahis.
"Your actions ... made a mockery of this country, a mockery of our security," Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, told the couple. "I'm saddened, and I'm disappointed, and I'm outraged."
Best reiterated afterward the Salahis do not want the events surrounding the dinner to detract from the "extraordinary institution" of the Secret Service.
"They are Americans," he said. "They are proud Americans."
TRANSCRIPT OF THE EXCHANGE:
APRIL RYAN: Was there a concern in this White House that she came out being, some might have called her the ‘belle of the ball,’ overshadowing the first lady at the…
ROBERT GIBBS: I don’t who some are. I’ve never heard that. Again…
RYAN: Well, it’s been bantered around Washington, and it’s been in Democratic circles as well as Republican circles, high-ranking people…
GIBBS: April, I, I, that’s not a station I live in in life.
RYAN: Just answer the question, please.
GIBBS: Are you done speaking so I can?
RYAN: Oh yes, I’m done.
GIBBS: I’ve not heard any of that criticism. I’ve not read any of that criticism. The president, the first lady, and the entire White House staff are grateful for the job that she does. And thinks she has done a terrific and wonderful job pulling off a lot of big and important events here at the White House.
RYAN: Did she invite herself to the state dinner or was she a guest? Did the president invite her or did she put her… No, that’s a real question. Do not fan it off. I’m serious.
GIBBS: I, I, Jonathan-
RYAN: No, no, no. Did she invite herself or did the president ask her? Her name was on that list, and social secretaries are the ones who put the names on the list…
GIBBS: Right. Was she at the dinner? April, April, calm down. Just take a deep breath for one second. Now see? This happens with my son. He does the same thing.
(Here there is an Audible reaction from other reporters as, Ryan mouths, “I’m older than your son.”)
RYAN: Don’t play with me. I’m being serious. Do not blow it off.
GIBBS: I’m not… And I’m giving you a serious answer. Was she at the dinner? Yes. She’s the social secretary.
RYAN: Social secretaries are not guests of the dinner.
GIBBS: She had the primary responsibility for running the dinner. I’m going to get back to weightier topics like 98,000 men and women in Afghanistan.
April Ryan's Professional Profile.
April Ryan, White House Correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks (AURN), is a 23-year journalism veteran who has worked in that capacity since January 1997. During her tenure as White House Correspondent, Ryan has conducted one-on-one interviews with President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, President Bill Clinton, Senator Hillary Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Senator John Kerry, Senator Barack Obama and a host of other dignitaries. Ryan has been credited by a White House historian as having the most radio interviews with President Bill Clinton during his White House years.
In February of 2008, Ryan conducted an exclusive interview on Africa with President Bush in the White House Oval Office. Ryan also conducted a one-on-one with South African President Thabo Mbeki. She has traveled to Africa on numerous Presidential missions with President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and President George W. Bush. Ryan’s exclusive coverage of Presidential visits to Africa and first-hand viewpoints were utilized in a 10-part AURN series that centered on Clinton's historic six nations African tour and was broadcast in June 1998. An exclusive interview with then First Lady Hillary Clinton followed and excerpts from the interview were not only broadcast in the news on AURN's SBN and AUN networks, but was also featured on the CBS evening news, among other national television and radio broadcasts.
Ryan traveled aboard Air Force One and interviewed President and Mrs. Bush while flying to the Gulf Coast for the Hurricane Katrina one year anniversary. In 2006, Ryan traveled with the First Lady to Mississippi where Mrs. Bush met with New Orleans Hurricane Katrina survivors. In September 2005, Ryan flew to Haiti with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and reported on America’s support for democratic elections and while there – due to the volatile political climate – was under the protection of the United Nations Blue Helmet Security forces. .
In addition to her White House coverage, Ryan also hosts “The White House Report,” a daily feature broadcast over hundreds of AURN affiliated stations nationwide. The Baltimore native has also utilized her journalistic prowess beyond the steps of Capitol Hill and has traveled to China and Switzerland for newsworthy events. In September 2005, Ryan’s breaking news coverage with First Lady Laura Bush was also highlighted on NBC’s Today show. Additionally, many of Ryan’s breaking news stories and interviews have also been spotlighted on ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC and FOX as well as in some of the nation’s top newspapers.
Ryan is an esteemed member of the National Press Club and serves on the newsmakers committee. She has also garnered numerous professional accolades to include receiving an American Swiss Foundation Young Leader Award in 2004 and being named one of the Outstanding Young Women in America in 1997.
Ryan began her radio career in Baltimore, MD where she worked for several radio stations including WXYV-FM where she served as news director. She is a graduate of Morgan State University and resides in Maryland with her husband and two daughters.
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Sources: Chicago Suntimes, CNN, MSNBC, WSJ, American Urban Radio Networks, C-Span, Left Coast Rebel, Bitten and Bound, Google Maps
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