On Novemeber 24, 2009, Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed the Obamas' First State dinner at the White House. Sources told ABC news that the initial secret service officer waived them in, assuming that the next officer would check them off the guest list. The White House guesses this was a publicity stunt for them to be apart of the show, The Real Housewives of DC.
The Salahi's arrived at about 7:00 pm with the BRAVO TV crew. The couple continued through the first checkpoint and then onto the next one. Their names should have been checked at the second station but were not. At 7:35 pm, the Salahi's walked into a secure entry hall, executing an almost impossible security breach.
At about 8:00 pm, the Salahi's entered the White House Blue Room, where they greeted President Obama, and India's Prime Minister Singh. By 8:30 pm they were in the dinner tent talking to vice president Joe Biden. By 9:00 pm, as dinner was being served, the Salahi's left the White House.
The lack of security could be blamed on the fact that it was raining. There was over 300 guests and security could have lost track, or had sympathy and granted entrance to the couple who looked like they belonged.
The White House says the couple was not invited. But Paul Gardner, the Salahi's attorney, has suggested this was a misunderstanding. "My clients were cleared, by the White House, to be there," he said.
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