White House Party Crashers Shock Outsiders

(CBS)  When Tareq and Michaele Salahi waltzed past the White House cameras Tuesday night they looked for all the world like they belonged there, except for one tiny detail.

"The minute I saw them, because I was very surprised, I immediately grabbed the list and looked for their name and noticed it wasn't there, which is very unusual," Roxanne Roberts, who writes for The Washington Post's column The Reliable Source, told CBS News Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes.

It wasn't there because they weren't invited. Still, the Salahis managed to talk their way past the Secret Service and into the star-studded state dinner, where they warmed up to Vice President Joe Biden, media luminaries and even the Marines posted at the door.

Then the Virginia couple hurried home to post the photos on Facebook, gushing "I was honored to be invited to attend the First State Dinner."

Unlike the big-time Obama donors and political heavyweights who snagged real invitations, Michaele Salahi is best known for her rumored casting in Bravo TV'S upcoming reality series "The Real Housewives of DC," the newest entry in a popular franchise that features wealthy wives leading decidedly unreal lives. ("I have the luxury to be able to buy beautiful things!" exclaimed one housewife during an episode of "The Real Housewives of New York City.")

The Secret Service has launched an investigation into the security breach and says a preliminary probe reveals that proper procedure wasn't followed at one of its checkpoints.

"This is really consistent with the corner cutting that's been going on in the Secret Service ever since the Department of Homeland Security took over in 2003," Ron Kessler, author of "In the President's Secret Service," .

This is hardly the Salahis' first foray into the spotlight. She's a former Washington Redskins cheerleader. He's involved in a public dispute over control of the family vineyard in Virginia.

In an odd bit of foreshadowing, the couple told CBS in a September interview to "stay tuned" and watch to see what they do next.

"President Obama has made it very accessible for anyone to visit the White House, so that's like the big thing right now," Michaele Salahi said then.

While some may see this as just another desperate stunt to get cast on a reality TV show such as , this time the show's producers may have been in on the act.

Erwin Gomez did Michaele's makeup that day.

"How many camera crews were filming you doing her makeup and then her getting her hair done?" Cordes asked Gomez.

"Just think about a production company, OK?" Gomez said.

Late Thursday, representatives for the couple put out a statement saying they "did not 'crash' this event. We look forward to setting the record straight very soon."

The question is if they did crash the dinner, was it a crime or just a great story for the next cocktail party?

[brendavero]

It seems clear that a big part of what led the Salahis to crash the White House event is their thirst for fame. A remarkable book on the need for fame has just been published by the University of Michigan Press. It is ?Look at Me: The Fame Motive from Childhood to Death? by Dr. Orville Gilbert Brim. Check out the UMich podcast and click through to the book. http://www.press.umich.edu/podcasts/index.jsp

[kittycatkittycat]

Send them to prison.

Mary, in Miami Beach

[marissa1256]

Even if they thought they had been invited to this dinner by someone who told them or implied they could get them an invitation, it takes some nerve to do what they did and show up without and official invitation. This is the white house, not some college frat party. You can't just show up because some friend of a friend has class with the host's roomate. If the Salahi's where half as important as they pretend to be, they would have gotten a real invitation and there would be no problem. Furthermore, the fact that they showed up with a camera crew and that they made such a public deal out of it on their facebook page shows there were just asking for attention. Now they got the attention and are whining that it ruined the lives and it was all a "misunderstanding". Reality TV is just rampant with narcissists like the Salahis! The title of the Real Housewives should be changed to the Real Nobodies since most of them would live in obscurity where they belong if it weren't for so called reality programs.

[nightcrawler1961]

They should both be sent to jail for a month. They were trespassing. Who the hell do they think they are, and how can this happen??? The media should not gove these 2 nothings any exposure, but knowing the media we have, they will be national news.
I feel like smacking the both of them.

[kittycatkittycat]

Yes, yes, yes.

Mary, in Miami Beach

[pnrn1]

"Now, let's see...where was that breach in security?...hmmm...no....how about here....hmmm...no...Oh wait, here it is."
THE FIRST PERSON THEY WALKED PAST!!! Glad to see you guys are on the ball.

[babswilkinson]

No media(tv, magazines, newspapers etc) should PAY these people for criminal behavior ( lying about their status as fake "guests" to federal authorities). This could encourage other nuts to try the same thing. No reward! Are you listening Fox? CBS? NBC? ABC? CNN? People magazine? Entertainment Tonight??? NO REWARDS to these people. They also ruined staff Thanksgiving holidays--having to work to figure this out. Why was no one at check points from the social secretary office???? BRAVO TV should be ashamed!!

[kittycatkittycat]

YES, I agree. They are sleeze.

Mary in Miami Beach

[lrdn99]

First, I am dismayed and discouraged that these two people could gain access to a secured State Dinner where the President and Vice President are in attendance. All the Secret Service agents need to be investigated.

Second, if these two people are paid for their interviews as they now are demanding. The people of the US should ban watching any of the shows on the network that pays for the interviews. Paying them for their story is extortion.

[kittycatkittycat]

Yes, yes, yes. They are sleeze.

Mary, in Miami Beach

[apuan777]

Dear Secret Service,
Please do a better job of protecting Obama...Not a fan, but the alternative is worse.

?The Vice President Joseph Biden
?Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
?President pro tempore of the Senate Robert Byrd
?Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
?Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner

[jo1370]

Then the Virginia couple hurried home to post the photos on Facebook, gushing "I was honored to be invited to attend the First State Dinner."

Our secret service really needs some serious looking into...and people will probably loose their jobs and careers over this. But these two people knew that they were... NOT INVITED ...and should never have been there in the first place at all...and then to go right home and post pictures about it...I am not comfortable with seeing a picture of some ditzy blonde cozing up and shaking hands to the two most important men in our country. Not to mention all the other important people that were there.

[deaas]

People have parties and other people want to join it. But the party giver make the decision to let them in or not. This happened in Britain's Royal Palace and happened in the White House. Who says the White House security is perfect? Is it run by perfect beings? Let us be real.

[licht1]

Not the first time the Obama White House has had gate crashers.

See:


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