The reality-star wannabes who gate-crashed President Obama’s state dinner had a grip-and-grin moment with the commander-in-chief inside the White House after smooth-talking their way into the supposedly secure party without an invitation, officials finally revealed yesterday.
The Secret Service admitted “established protocols were not followed” when Michaele and Tareq Salahi managed not only to get past a checkpoint, but to actually touch the president and First Lady Michelle on the receiving line.
Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan expressed shame in a written statement, saying the agency that protects the president is “deeply concerned and embarrassed” that procedures were not followed.
“As our investigation continues, appropriate measures have been taken to ensure this is not repeated,” Sullivan said. “We need to be right 100 percent of the time.”
Officials had been insisting the Obamas were never in any danger at the event Tuesday night because the party crashers had gone through metal detectors.
But that was before the White House quietly released photos late last night, right before a sleepy Thanksgiving weekend, showing the Salahis — who could have been extremely dangerous and even carrying biological weapons — in physical contact with Obama.
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The red-faced agency had its internal office of professional responsibility launch a probe into how the Salahis got in. The office has been reviewing video-surveillance footage and interviewing every agent on duty at the White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sources said.
The startlingly botched security has the potential to force out Sullivan as chief of the Secret Service, said a law-enforcement source with connections to Washington.
“Heads are going to roll and it may go to the [director],” the source said. “The White House is fuming.”
Sullivan, who has been with the agency since 1983 and became its director in 2006, came under fire when an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a Baghdad press conference last December.
Officials also met with the Salahis for questioning yesterday while mulling the possibility of criminal charges.
It is unclear how the couple snowed officers at the checkpoint into letting them in. Federal law makes it a crime to knowingly make false statements on matters involving the federal government.
The Salahis had been front-runners to be cast on an upcoming Bravo series, “The Real Housewives of Washington,” and a crew from that show followed them all day Tuesday right up to the gates of the White House.
The Secret Service spent yesterday morning searching for the couple, who have gone into hiding to avoid the media. First, agents tried to find them at a Virginia winery — a business that was at the center of a bitter family feud between Tareq Salahi and his parents — but were told they had moved out in 2006, workers said.
The agents then contacted Michaele’s mother, Rosemary Holt, who put them in touch with her daughter by phone, and a meeting was arranged.
“I told her to tell them everything as it happened — to just tell the truth,” Holt told The Post after helping arrange the sit-down at an undisclosed location in Virginia.
“I just want this resolved as soon as possible, but their lawyer said it could take a week,” Holt said. “They’re blowing this out of proportion. This is outrageous.”
Earlier in the day, the Salahis’ lawyer, Paul Gardner, posted a comment on their Facebook page saying, “My clients were cleared by the White House to be there.” However, authorities have repeatedly said the couple was not on the guest list and should not have been allowed in.
The Washington Post reported that, before the gate-crasher scandal broke, they asked Tareq Salahi why he was at the event. He told them over Facebook: “India is the challenger in the America’s Polo Cup World Championships June 11/12 2010, and they are very excited in this first ever cultural connection being hosted on the DC National Mall since Polo is one of the primary sports in India.”
Salahi is the captain of the US polo team.
Messages left with Gardner and the Salahis’ spokeswoman were not returned yesterday.
The Salahis are well-known socialites, particularly among the northern Virginia pony set. They threw a lavish 2002 wedding at which Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy spoke, and have long been obsessed with celebrity and portraying themselves as true DC power players.
“The limelight and being at the center of it is their lives, so that all the attention probably isn’t any big deal,” said pal Casey Morgenau, who introduced Tareq and Michaele to each other a decade ago. “This has brought more publicity than they could have ever thought. It has gone way beyond what everyone would even dream — it’s probably going to push them into rock-star status.”
The Washington Post reported yesterday Michaele in the past claimed to be a Washington Redskins cheerleader, but team officials have no record of her being on the squad. She, however, was spotted attending cheerleader alumni events, even though squad members had no idea who she was, the paper said.
Michaele’s mother said the couple was upset about the fact that reporters have dug through Tareq’s floundering finances. As The Post reported yesterday, the winery he used to run is $1 million in debt and being sued for millions more. The couple has had a yacht and several cars repossessed and has been cited for operating a charity not properly registered with the government.
“I feel sorry for Tareq — that’s his debt, but I feel bad that the whole world is looking at his finances,” Holt said. “This doesn’t have to do to with the breach of the White House. That’s his business. However he wants to spend his money is his business. Is there nothing private anymore?”
She said her daughter — who she said is “an enormous Obama supporter” — was holding up strongly.
“I’m very proud of the way she’s handled this,” Holt said. “She’s not crying. There hasn’t been a tear in her eye because she knows she proceeded appropriately.”
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill yesterday, top officials were demanding an explanation as to how the president could have been put at such risk.
“The state-dinner incident compromised the safety and security of the president and undermined our confidence in the protection we expect of the Secret Service,” said Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-Brooklyn), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
He and others said they had asked for a briefing from the Secret Service next week when Congress reconvenes.
Additional reporting by Geoff Earle & Larry Celona