Michaele Salahi and Tureq Salahi Gatecrash White House State Dinner

Secret Service Not Amused

Michaele Salahi and her husband Tureq Salahi were apparently able to penetrate White House security and attend President Obama's first state dinner with the Indian Prime Minister. Michaele Salahi was incautious enough to boast of it on her Facebook page.

The problem is that neither Michaele Salahi nor Tureq Salahi actually got an invitation, according to the Guardian. Michaele Salahi has posted several pictures of herself and such luminaries as Vice President Joe Biden, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, and some Marine Guards in full regalia.

While no doubt Michaele Salahi and Tureq Salahi are congratulating themselves on their little joke, the Secret Service is not amused.

Mind, since Michaele Salahi and Tureq Salahi went through all of the usual security screenings, including being scanned by a magnetometer, it is unlikely that they could have conveyed a weapon or a bomb into the state dinner venue. However the simple expedient of checking invitations must not have been followed. It did not help that Michaele Salahi and Tureq Salahi looked well dressed, well groomed, prosperous, in short two people who belonged at a state dinner hosted by the President of the United States. Tureq Salahi was dressed in a black dinner jacket and Michaele Salahi in a red and gold sari.

But it is standard operating procedure that no one gets near the President of the United States without the knowledge or the vetting of the Secret Service. This is especially true in the post 9/11 world in which the President of the United States is a prime target for terrorists.

The state dinner, held in honor of the Prime Minister of India, was the first of President Barack Obama's Presidency. Among the guests were filmmaker Stephen Spielberg, spiritual guru Deepak Chopra, as well as various government functionaries.