Posted on 11/28/2009 1:02:58 PM PST by Schnucki
WASHINGTON: This time, the picture is the story. After the Secret Service insisted that US president Barack Obama was never endangered by a security breach that allowed a couple to crash his first state dinner, the White House has released a photo showing that not only did the pair get close to Obama, they actually shook hands and talked to him.
The revelation underscored the seriousness of the security breach and prompted an abject apology from the Secret Service.
A White House spokesman said that the couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi of Virginia, met and shook hands with the president and the first lady in the receiving line in the Blue Room, as the Obamas greeted each of their 400 invited guests on Tuesday night before moving to a tent on the South Lawn for dinner. That disclosure coincided with a statement from the director of the Secret Service, Mark Sullivan, saying that his agency was “deeply concerned and embarrassed” by the events. Secret Service officials said the agency wanted to interview everyone connected with the episode, including the Salahis, and had not ruled out criminal charges.
Secret Service on Friday acknowledged that its officers never checked whether the two were on the guest list before letting them onto the White House grounds. The Salahis were not on the guest list and should have been barred from entering last Tuesday’s dinner on the White House South Lawn for the Prime Minister of India, said Sullivan.
“Although these individuals went through magnetometers and other levels of screening, they should have been prohibited from entering the event entirely,” Sullivan said. “That failing is ours.”
Didn’t they rid their selves of some top notch SS men? IF that is the case...is this the results?
People is the White House Social Secretary’s Office and people in the Secret Service need to be fired.
And here I thought Obama was untouchable. I said to friends at my breakfast club the other day, before this happened: “Obama has more rings of security around him than Stalin had.”
Boy, was I ever wrong.
He is vulnerable, just like his idols Abe Lincoln and JFK.
Have they figured out what this couple were doing at the White House? Did they have malevolent intentions or were they just trying to get a free dinner? Or did they do it just to see if they could?
The couple proudly posted photos of themselves with Biden, Obama, Katy Couric, and even Rahm Emanuel.
Thank you. That’s what I’d heard too, and it really doesn’t make sense. What possessed someone to think, “Hmm, those people may not have been on the invite list...” They seemed to fit right in.
Trying to get a gig on BRAVO’s “Real Housewives of DC”.
Did I hear/read that the Secret Service were folded into the Dept of Homeland Security? If so big mistake.
This kind of reminds me of when the German guy flew his plane into Moscow’s Red Square.
My guess is tht der Fuehrer directed the SS to not “inconvenience” his guests (read big contributers). That and the best SS agents have probably been moved on, leaving a second string.
Serious or sarcasm? It's hard to tell. Seems everyone's trying to score reality TV stardom these days.
Good point, this just proves that the SS (Secret Service) is a racist organization. This would never happen with a white president.
No, honestly, it’s true. Trying to snatch their 15 minutes of fame, like the Balloon Boy jerks.
They’ll end up in jail, too.
NY Daily News:
An internal investigation is underway, and government sources told The News that employees might be fired.
The Salahis - who are vying for a spot on the Bravo show “Real Housewives of Washington, D.C.” - could be arrested. Among the possible charges is a felony count of lying to a federal agent, a Secret Service source said.
After being ushered into the dinner, the Salahis got up close and personal with Vice President Biden and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
The spotlight-loving spouses posted party snaps on Facebook, showing them cozying up to CBS anchor Katie Couric and Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty.
“The White House Marines welcome Michaele to the State Dinner,” read the caption on a photo of the blond ex-cheerleader posing with three smiling leathernecks
In jail for what?
Lying to Federal agents.
Martha Stewart went to jail for 5 months for this offense.
Yep, I saw those. Looked like they’d all been friends for years.
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