WASHINGTON
Getting to the president is not supposed to be this easy.
The White House said late yesterday that Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the Virginia couple auditioning for a Bravo reality show, not only got past layers of experienced, executive-branch security, but also shook the president's hand in the Blue Room of the White House during the Obamas' first state dinner.
Late yesterday, the White House also released a photo of Michaele Salahi's audience with the president, with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh smiling nearby.
The security breach has caused finger-pointing inside the White House, bewilderment among Tuesday night's guests -- and late yesterday, prompted an apology from the Secret Service.
A statement by Director Mark Sullivan said that the agency was "deeply concerned and embarrassed by the circumstances, surrounding the State Dinner" and added that "the preliminary findings of our internal investigation have determined established protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint, verifying that two individuals were on the guest list."
Sullivan suggested that the couple had been screened for weapons but should not have gained entry.
Agents from the Secret Service -- which, according to spokesman James Mackin, has "not ruled out" criminal charges against the couple -- had sought to interview them at the Salahi family winery in Hume, Va., earlier yesterday. They weren't there, and the investigators sought them out at another address in Linden, Va.
Friends describe the 40-something pair as "fun-loving" and unabashed about pursuing the spotlight and playing the debonair couple who know and are known by all the right people.
Before the Salahis catapulted to international notoriety this week, they had their pictures taken with President Obama during his inauguration, Prince Charles at a polo match and Oprah Winfrey at another event. They had Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy speak at their elaborate wedding, which more than 1,800 guests attended.
The two are scheduled to be on Larry King Live show Monday night.
Reached by telephone last night, the couple's attorney, Paul Gardner, declined to comment, saying only, "Ha-ha-ha, no thank you." In an e-mail to Bloomberg News, Gardner added, "My clients were cleared by the White House to be there."
According to Mackin, the security failure occurred at the initial checkpoint, where guests present their names to an agent. He said that the Salahis should have been turned away when their names did not show up on the guest list, but instead agents waved them on to the next checkpoint. How the couple -- he decked out in a tuxedo, she in a red sari -- made it past the second checkpoint is still unanswered.
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