The reality-star wannabes who brazenly strolled past Secret Service checkpoints to party at the White House should face criminal charges for sneaking into the supposedly secure state dinner, two US senators and a represenative said.
New York Rep. Peter King, a member of the House panel that oversees the Secret Service said this morning that the security lapse that allowed a couple to crash a White House state dinner is unforgiveable and must be corrected.
Rep. Peter King said “we can’t show this type of weakness to terrorists, to psychopaths.”
Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, said the shocking breach of security would lead to even stricter safety measures at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. — and likened it to heightened screening at airports after terrorist Richard Reid tried to blow up a flight with a bomb in his shoe.
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“These folks could be like . . . Reid, who changed the way everybody travels through the airports . . . This couple may change the way people go to the White House,” Bayh told “Fox News Sunday.”
With fame-hungry DC socialites Tareq and Michaele Salahi crowing on Facebook about whooping it up at the White House, Bayh said authorities have to send a message to future gate-crashers.
“You’ve got to send a strong deterrent that people just don’t do this kind of thing,” Bayh said.
Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, said the Salahis should be prosecuted if they lied to get into the party.
“If it’s a federal crime to lie to a federal agent, and these people didn’t tell the truth about their invitation, then they should be in some way brought to justice here, again, as an example to others not to do it,” he told Fox News.
GOP operative Ed Rollins, speaking on CNN, said, “They basically trespassed . . . These people want a reality show, give them one. It’s called ‘Dealing With the Federal Prosecution System.’ ”
The Salahis — vying for a spot on Bravo’s “Real Housewives of DC” — last Tuesday sneaked into the first state dinner hosted by President Obama. It honored the leader of India.
They posed for photos with Vice President Joe Biden and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel — and Michaele even managed a handshake with Obama.
The red-faced head of the Secret Service has admitted that “established protocols” were breached.
Agents have interviewed the Salahis and were trying to determine whether they should press charges.
Meanwhile, the financially strapped duo — who are fixtures in DC gossip columns for their society antics and family feuds over money — yesterday denied reports that they were shopping around their story for six figures.
“That’s not even plausible,” said their publicist, Mahagony Jones. “We’re not shopping the story. We’d love to set the record straight, but we’re not making any comments at this time.”
The couple canceled an appearance on “Larry King Live” slated for tonight. CNN said the couple promised to appear at a later time, but no date was set. The network insisted it does not pay guests and the couple did not ask for money.
An unidentified TV executive told The Associated Press that the Salahis were contacting networks and urging them to “get their bids in” for an interview.
The attractive couple has hobnobbed with a bevy of boldfaced names over the years — including Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who spoke at their 2003 wedding.
But it appears the jet-setting pair has had to struggle to keep up their glamorous lifestyle.
Tareq, an accomplished polo player, is involved in a nasty lawsuit with his relatives, who accuse him of running the family winery into the ground and racking up an enormous debt.