Salahis Vow to Take the Fifth

5815932Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the aspiring reality-television stars whose unauthorized entry into the Obama administration's first state dinner resulted into a congressional inquiry into White House security, are vowing to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights if they are forced to appear before Congress.

The House Homeland Security Committee will vote tomorrow about whether or not to subpoena the couple. Last week, the head of the Secret Service accepted blame for the security breakdown and said three officers had been placed on leave in testimony before the committee.

The couple's lawyer sent a letter today to the leadership of the committee that included signed declarations from the couple that they will decline to answer questions.

The letter accuses members of Congress of coming to premature conclusions about the couple. It cites as one piece of evidence District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton's characterization of the couple as "practiced con artists who bamboozled the Secret Service" and "outlaws."

The letter also notes that Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee called the pair "the perpetrators" and that they were also compared to Bonnie and Clyde.

"The Salahis must contend not only with vilification by the press, but also with a treacherous legal environment that threatens criminal exposure," the letter says.

The Fifth Amendment affords Americans the right not to testify as a witness against themselves.

"I am aware of statements made by certain members on the Committee on Homeland Security in which premature conclusions concerning my criminal liability have been made," both Salahis declare in the letter, which asserts that the pair have "fully cooperated" with the Secret Service. "...The current circumstances warrant invocation of my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination."

More:

Bob Schieffer: The Salahis Ought to Be Prosecuted

Salahis Among Many Secret Service Breaches

White House Crashing? There's A Law Against That

[licht1]

Not the first time the Obama White House has had gatecrashers. The last bunch didn't testify, either.

See:

http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/masked-raiders-infiltrate-white-house/

[justsane-2009]

fine. throw them in jail. the fifth amendment is reserved as the right to not incriminate oneself in a criminal act. apparently they know that they have committed one. let the trials begin!

[ffoulkes-2009]

If you are accused (even if innocent) you have the right to refuse to testify. Giving testimony can be harrowing, and you will be tossed some questions you don't expect with any answer being used against you. That is why you have the right to refuse to speak or otherwise incriminate yourself on legal issues.

[toldyouso21]

First the balloon boy debacle--now this. a lot of stupid, aspiring reality tv wanna bees doing anything to get noticed-they should all be barred from profiting at all from their shenanigans and be forced into years of community service for using up public resources to field their bizarre attempts at fame.

[srlovelylady]

They are protecting whomever extended the invitation to that WH dinner.

radical-pal-rashid-khalidi/ - Cached -Obama knew White House Party Crasher Tareq Salahi since 2005 ...Nov 29, 2009 ... Thank god Obama or anyone else wasn't hurt or attack at the White House State Dinner that was crashed by Tareq Salahi and his wife Michaele ...
www.fireandreamitchell.com/.../obama-knew-white-house-party-crasher-tareq-salahi-since-2005-belongs-to-anti-israel-group-atfp-which-als... - Cached -

[PVperson2]

WHAT, they aren't going to tell the Senators how they were invited, they've told every other person on the planet, why not them? Could it be that to do so would be PERJURY?

[ffoulkes-2009]

Well, it COULD be that they have a right not to answer questions that MIGHT incriminate them.

[all_father]

Not sure I'd want to waste the tax dollars on a trial for these two idiots. What would hurt them more is to make sure Bravo (and indeed all networks) knows that viewers won't support a network that includes them on any kind of TV show.

[AnnieDanny]

Yes, initially I thought they deserved to go to jail, but apparently the Secret Service has had party crashers before. So the SS needs to make corrections and improvements. These two (the Salahis) are very annoying (IMO), but that's not illegal.

[thesevenveils]

I remember when several reporters pleaded the fifth in order to protect their sources. And several of these reporters ended up spending more than a year in jail charged of contempt of court. They were released until they did provide their information which was valuable for a trial or until their information was no longer important.

I don't think Blondie could take one quarter the jail time Paris Hilton (another blond similarly narcissistic) did. I give Kudos to Hilton for her chin up attitude though.

[ffoulkes-2009]

The reporters were not pleading their fifth amendment rights in that case, they were invoking reporter's rights to keep an informant unnamed. Big difference in that the former is a right, the former is a privilege.

[us_1776]

These two think this is a big joke. They should be arrested at a very minimum for trespassing and lying to federal officers in order to gain illegal access.

[us_1776]

These two think this is a big joke. They should be arrested at a very minimum for trespassing and lying to federal officers in order to gain illegal access.