Secret Service confirms couple gatecrashed Manmohan’s state dinner

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WASHINGTON - A couple of brazen party crashers - and wannabe reality TV stars - were indeed at President Barack Obama’s state dinner for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh without ever being suspected, the US Secret Service has confirmed.

Michaele and Tareq Salahi were all smiles as they rubbed shoulders with Vice President Joe Biden, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, India’s deputy chief of mission, Arun Singh, Oscar winner Indian composer A.R. Rahman and Pepsico’s Indian American chief executive Indra Nooyi, among others, at the dinner.

The Washington Post, which first reported the story, had identified the couple who crashed Tuesday night’s dinner as Tareq and Michaele Salahi. The Post described the couple as polo-playing socialites from northern Virginia.

Huffington Post Thursday published pictures of the gate crashing couple with Singh, Rahman and Nooyi, among others, at the Obama administration’s biggest social event to date with more than 300 guests,,including cabinet members, diplomats and Hollywood celebrities.

A Secret Service checkpoint “did not follow proper procedures” to determine if the two were on the guest list for the dinner, said Edwin M. Donovan, a Secret Service spokesman, but stressed Obama or Manmohan Singh were never in any danger because the Salahis went through the same security screening for weapons as the other invitees.

Playing down any security threat, Donovan’s statement said: “It is important to note that these individuals went through magnetometers and other levels of security, as did all guests attending the dinner.”

“The Secret Service has tasked our Office of Professional Responsibility with conducting a comprehensive review of the incident,” Donovan said.

Video footage of the dinner showed the couple walking past journalists into the event. On Wednesday, Michaele Salahi’s Facebook page included photos of the couple at the dinner, including two pictures with Vice President Joe Biden and another with Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, who was identified on the page as “Ron” Emanuel.

In an e-mail to CNN, Mahogany Jones, who identified herself as a publicist for the Salahis, said the couple had “full clearance to attend the state dinner”.

Fran Townsend, a homeland security adviser to former President George W. Bush, said the incident likely involved a breakdown at the “perimeter” security for the event, which is the first checkpoint that guests encounter.

Lying to the Secret Service could bring a felony charge, Townsend told CNN.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)