White House: State dinner crashers met Obama

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_state_dinner_uninvited_guests

White House: State dinner crashers met Obama

By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer Larry Margasak, Associated Press

Writer – 25 mins ago

WASHINGTON – A reality TV hopeful and her husband who crashed a presidential

dinner met President Barack Obama in the receiving line, the White House said

Friday, as a " deeply concerned and embarrassed " Secret Service acknowledged its

officers failed to check whether the couple was on the guest list.

The White House released a photo showing e and Tareq Salahi in the

receiving line in the Blue Room with Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh, in whose honor the dinner was held. Obama and e Salahi, a

candidate for Bravo's " The Real Housewives of D.C., " are smiling as she grasps

his right hand with both of hers and her husband looks on. Singh is standing to

the Obama's left.

The Secret Service earlier this week had said the president was not in danger

because the Virginia couple — like others at the dinner — had gone through

magnetometers. But in light of their close proximity to the president, no such

claim was made Friday.

The Salahis were not on the guest list and should have been prohibited from

entering last Tuesday's dinner on the White House South Lawn for the prime

minister of India, said Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan.

On Friday, Sullivan was apologetic in a written statement, saying the agency

that protects the president is " deeply concerned and embarrassed " that

procedures were not followed.

" As our investigation continues, appropriate measures have been taken to ensure

this is not repeated, " Sullivan said.

Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said officers at the checkpoint had a

clipboard with names of the invited guests. Even though the Salahis names

weren't on it, they were allowed to proceed. The officers should have called

either someone on the White House staff or Secret Service personnel before

allowing them past the checkpoint, Mackin said.

Earlier, Mackin said the Secret Service may pursue a criminal investigation of

the Salahis.

Sullivan said, " 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.

" 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, " he said.

Sullivan said it wasn't good enough that his agency screened more than 1.2

million visitors last year to the White House complex and protected more than

10,000 sites for the president, vice president and others.

" Even with these successes, we need to be right 100 percent of the time, " he

said. " While we have protocols in place to address these situations, we must

ensure that they are followed each and every time. "

It is unclear what the couple told officers at the checkpoint that allowed them

to go through the security screening. Federal law makes it a crime to knowingly

and willfully falsify statements on matters within the federal government's

jurisdiction.

" As this moves closer to a criminal investigation there's less that we can say, "

Mackin said. " I don't want to jeopardize what could be a criminal investigation.

We're not leaving any option off the table at this point. "

White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said the Secret Service will take appropriate

action once the review is completed.

" 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 the United States, " Shapiro said.

The Salahis lawyer, Gardner, posted a comment on their Facebook page

saying, " My clients were cleared by the White House, to be there. " He said more

information would be forthcoming.

Several messages left at Gardner's law firm on Friday were not immediately

returned.

Bravo Media has confirmed that e Salahi is being considered as a

participant in the upcoming " The Real Housewives of D.C. " program and on the day

of the dinner was being filmed around Washington by Half Yard Productions, the

producer of the program.

" Half Yard Productions was told by e and Tareq Salahi that they had been

invited to the State Dinner. We took them at their word and filmed their

preparations for the event. Half Yard Productions had no part in planning their

presence at the event, " said Abby Greensfelder of Half Yard Productions.

Photos on the couple's Facebook page they previously had gotten close to Obama.

One photo, apparently taken in the days before Obama took the oath of office,

shows the Salahis in a group shot with Obama and some of the musicians who

performed at an inaugural concert.

Other photos show the Salahis in the empty, glass-enclosed box from which the

Obamas watched the concert and, according to the caption, " backstage with the

Secret Service at the Lincoln Memorial during the Presidential Inauguration. "

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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.