Not-so-Secret Agents
It was only matter of time before someone took the blame for the White-House’s party crashing. Three Secret Service officers were put on administrative leave on December 3. The decision came following hubbub and criticism over the uncertain invitation of Tareq and Michaele Salahi at a state dinner. The Virginia couple had talked and emailed their way into the event, with no obvious invite to the dinner.
They even exchanged emails with a top Defense Department official in order to gain access to the state dinner. Michele S. Jones, special assistant to the secretary of defense, based at the Pentagon, has stated that she never told the couple that they had tickets to the event. Corresponding via email with the couple, she’d communicated that she lacked the authority to invite them, yet they went anyhow.
It was President Obama’s first official state dinner, held in honor of India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Obama’s social secretary, Desiree Rogers was blamed for the security lapse, having neglected to assign members of her staff to specific checkpoints. The checkpoints were staffed by Secret Service agents, and in the past the staff have accompanied agents at checkpoints. Secret agents were supposed to contact supervisors if anyone not appearing on the invite list showed up at any of the three checkpoints.
Secret Service director Mark Sullivan made the decision to suspend the agents after questioning by Congressional panel members.Sullivan, who was appointed director to the Secret Service in 2006, admitted that his staff simply did not follow procedures, and cited “human error” as the reason the Salahis gained entrance to the White House. He was unaware of the uninvited guests until the following day, when it was announced in newspaper reports and on the Internet through the Salahi’s Facebook account, along with photos of them at the event. Photos include the couple posing with guests including Vice-president Joe Biden. Sullivan has commented that the president was never in danger during the event, and President Obama has stated that he feels secure with the department.
Michaela Salahi is a contender for the reality show “Real Housewives of D.C.” that is slated to run on Bravo. It’s rumored that the couple were merely trying to boost chances of appearing on the show. In fact, they were being filmed by a crew from the show as they went about town preparing for the dinner. Tareq Salahi is a wine maker and polo player. The two stand by their claims that they were invited to the dinner, and Mrs. Salahi has called the accusations “devastating.” The couple appeared on an airing of NBC’s “Today” show. In the interview, Mr. Tareq claimed that they had turned their “documentation” over to the Secret Service. Purportedly the documentation consists of email exchanges between the couple and the Defense Department secretary.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has said that criminal investigations were being looked into, and promised that such an error would never happen again. As for hte Virginia couple, it’s uncertain if they will be charged with anything, as they were allowed to enter the White House. If anything, they could be charged with a felony–making false statements to the Secret Service.
