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Russia on Wednesday recalled its ambassador to the United States, coinciding with comments made by President Joe Biden about Russian President Vladimir Putin saying he “will pay a price” and would face punitive actions in the future.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Thursday took the unusual step of summoning the American ambassador to Germany to an afternoon meeting in Berlin in the wake of reports that the US might have spied on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone. … According to sources at the Foreign Ministry, Westerwelle is expected to make clear the “incomprehension and outrage from the German side” over the reported monitoring of a close ally and partner. …

The evidence clearly shows that the congressional investigation of the White House Gatecrashers is being controlled and limited. Homeland Security Committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), now the subject of an Ethics Committee investigation, has made it clear that he wants to limit the investigation. Is he trying to protect White House officials with something to hide? Ignoring evidence of White House connections to the alleged gatecrashers, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, Thompson will not subpoena Desirée Rogers, the White House social secretary who is a very close friend of Barack and Michelle Obama. As a result of the stonewalling and cover-up,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House gate-crashers plan to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights and refuse to testify if they are subpoenaed to appear on Capitol Hill about the security breach. Reality TV hopefuls Michaele and Tareq Salahi said through their lawyer on Tuesday that the House Homeland Security Committee has drawn premature conclusions about the Nov. 24 incident, when they were able to get into the state dinner without being on an approved guest list.

Desirée Glapion Rogers is the descendant of a Creole voodoo priestess named Marie Laveau Glapion. The first time I meet her, she welcomes me into her East Wing lair—a rhythm and blues tune plays on a white iPod, a potted white orchid perches between two windows, fresh flowers sit on a heavy wooden desk. This is a woman who never sees a wilted bloom. The 49-year-old turns on just enough Southern charm to camouflage an aura of self-assuredness typically reserved for runway models or first ladies. Wearing a crisp white shirt, black patent flats and high-waisted navy slacks that would...

If White House social secretary Desiree Rogers survives this week's withering attacks for her role in last week's state dinner security breach, she'll have gotten by with a lot of help from her friends in the West Wing. As a House committee opened hearings Thursday on how two uninvited partygoers were able to enter the White House grounds and shake hands with President Barack Obama, top presidential aides delivered a clear message to critics of this favored staffer: Back off. In a White House not known for its tolerance of staffing errors, Rogers has been the beneficiary of an unprecedented...

Mr. Sullivan also surprised the panel by telling members that his agency did not learn of the security breach until the Virginia couple bragged about it on the Internet. He told the panel that the federal security agency did not become aware of the breach by the Salahis until the next day, when it saw the couple's photos from the event, including posing with the president, posted on their public Facebook account.

This is kind of like asserting executive privilege to block disclosure of the White House chef’s recipe file. Even lefties can’t believe it: [I]t is literally inconceivable that anyone drafting the Constitution would have imagined the position of White House Social Secretary, paid for with taxpayer funds, and that the majesty of separation of powers rhetoric would apply to a situation like this…. This is simply yet more evidence that all presidents, regardless of political party and ostensible commitment to “transparency,” take on royalist airs when taking their oath of office. Congress wants to talk to her about how the...

A random websurf today shows no shortage of prominent coverage in the Arabic language media including running commentary on the fiasco as well as in some cases detailed background explanations as to how the recent State Dinner security breach occured at the White House and uncleared people were able to come into close access with the President of the United States and visiting The Prime Minister of India.One such outlet is Arab Times in Arabic, located in the United States, but many other outlets are carrying it outside of the USA--including on some questionable sites. This appeared on Arabic...

While much attention is being focused on the Secret Service for allowing uninvited socialites Tareq and Michaele Salahi to crash the state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House last week, the person responsible for all facets of the dinner has so far been given a pass by her friends in the media.White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, a Chicago pal of the Obamas, failed to follow the previous administration's practice of staffing the Secret Service-guarded entrances for dinner guests with someone from her office that could handle any problem with invitees.The AP quoted Rogers directly...

Research shows the following:"Unlawful Entry. A Violation of D.C.Code § 22-3102(1967).-- Unlawful Entry is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding $100 or imprisonment in the District of Columbia jail for not more than six months or both in the discretion of the court."

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Wednesday released a second installment from its logs of White House visitors in the first seven months of Mr. Obama’s term, revealing a roster of business executives, Democratic strategists and lobbyists showing up for meetings, events or tours. The latest list — some 1,600 names — includes Thomas Donohue, the head of the Chamber of Commerce who has been embroiled in a fight over climate change with the Obama administration. It also includes T. Boone Pickens, the energy investor and author of the best-selling book “The First Billion Is the Hardest.” A three-time visitor...

NYT: This much is known: About 7:15 Tuesday night, a glittering blonde, decked out in a red and gold sari, holding the hand of her black-tuxedoed escort, swept past the camera crews and reporters camped out to catch the red-carpet arrivals for the first state dinner given by President Obama.

It's the greatest White House fiasco since the sale of the Lincoln Bedroom. A pair of social-climbing, reality show wannabes got into the White House state dinner Tuesday night -- without an invitation -- and giddily rubbed elbows with Vice President Joe Biden, Rahm Emanuel and a host of other high-level politicians and the media elite. "The Real Housewives of Washington" hopefuls Tareq and Michaele Salahi -- who've gotten a reputation for a bitter family feud involving a winery in the posh horse-country of Northern Virginia -- showed up at the state dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the...

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. While the White House...

Crashing a state dinner at the White House apparently takes a security breakdown as well as some kind of nerve. But the stars were aligned for Tareq and Michaele Salahi on Tuesday night. White House staff were left red-faced after the aspiring reality TV couple caused a security scare by gatecrashing an Obama-hosted dinner. The Salahis mingled in the same room as President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and guest of honour Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh - despite not being on the guest list. They even posed for pictures with Vice President Joe Biden, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel...

WASHINGTON — The couple who crashed a White House state dinner were being filmed that day by a camera crew connected with a reality television program, although none of the filming took place on White House grounds, a spokeswoman for the program's network said today. The couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, gained access to the dinner President Barack Obama hosted for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, although they had not been invited, prompting a security review by the Secret Service, which acknowledged that procedures were not followed properly. Bravo Media confirmed late Thursday that Michaele Salahi is being...

WASHINGTON - 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...

A couple of aspiring reality TV stars gatecrashed the state dinner hosted in honour of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House, clicked pictures with US Vice President Joe Biden and other guests and then posted them on their Facebook profile, US media said. A Washington Post report said: "Tareq and Michaele Salahi -- polo-playing socialites -- were seen arriving at the White House and later posted on the Facebook photos of themselves with VIPs at the elite gathering." "Honoured to be at the White House for the state dinner in honour of India with President Obama and...

It’s one of the most secure places on earth, but two Washington area socialites and reality TV wannabes were apparently able to get behind the gates at the White House and mingle with the crowd at the State Dinner in honor of India last night. The Washington Post has the dish on Tareq and Michaele Salahi, below: The First Lady’s office told ABC they would have no comment on the crashers and referred all inquiries to the Secret Service. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan confirms that the agency is looking “into a report that two individuals not on the guest...