In an interview set to air tonight on ABC’s Nightline, the former social secretary of the Obama White House, Desiree Rogers, talks about the reality TV couple that crashed a state dinner in 2009, Tareq and Michelle Salahi, ever to be known as the “White House Party Crashers.” The two, socialites from Virginia, managed to get into a state dinner for the prime minister of India. “It’s unfortunate that, you know, this happened and…it’s over,” she said. “It’s the past, it’s behind us and that’s the end of it.”

Today Michaele and Tareq Salahi were on MSNBC to talk about their latest run in with the Secret Service. Considering all the rumors that the Salahis will be starring in a series on MSNBC’s sister network Bravo soon (coincidence!: they also showed up on the Today show this morning), the Salahis were probably expecting a puff piece interview. But that is not what MSNBC’s Lynn Berry gave them. Things got very uncomfortable, very quickly.

ABC News is reporting that the Secret Service stopped a limousine carrying Michaele and Tareq Salahi last night, as it ran a red light and tried to enter a restricted parking area for the White House. The Salahis are best known for crashing the last state dinner, and the White House made it known that [...]

As the White House prepares for tonight’s state dinner for Mexican President Felipe Calderón, they have taken steps to ensure that this affair quiets the unfortunate echoes of November’s Salahi-crashed state dinner. At Monday’s briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs assured reporters that additional steps will be taken, although he wouldn’t elaborate for fear of tipping off potential crashers. I did manage to get Gibbs to confirm one change, that there will be someone from the Social Secretary’s office at the Secret Service checkpoint.

There were several disappointments at Thursday’s Crasher-gate hearing, but chief among them were Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan‘s continued insistence that the now-famous security breach posed no threat to the President, and the committee’s focus on Social Secretary Desiree Rogers‘ role in said breach. This is absurd on two counts.

Even if it hadn’t just been in the news, the Salahi party-crasher story was practically begging for an SNL spoof. Well, SNL delivered, opening the show with the now super-recognizable (and snap-happy) couple crashing Obama’s Allentown speech with their pals, the Secret Service and Joe Biden. Was it the real Salahis, as rumored? Nope, but it really didn’t matter — you’d know that sari anywhere.

During House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on Crashergate, the Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan spent the morning on the hot seat for his agency’s failure to repel uninvited guests Michaele and Tareq Salahi from last Tuesday’s White House state dinner. Among the revelations this morning is the embarrassing fact that, according to Sullivan, the Secret Service learned of the breach on Facebook.

As a Congressional hearing gets underway to drill down on how the uninvited Salahi couple managed to breach White House security, the White House has removed any and all doubt as to whether the Secret Service might have had a legitimate excuse for letting the couple past the first checkpoint.

The saga of would-be reality stars and accused White House Party Crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi continues to unroll slowly, as NBC fortuitously scores scoop after scoop. The latest: The Salahis’ attorney provided The Today Show with copies of their emails with Defense Department White House Liaison Michele Jones. If this is the bombshell evidence they promised to bring Matt Lauer in their meager Today interview Monday, they’re in trouble. These emails are all smoke, no gun

At the heart of the story of Michaele and Tareq Salahi’s big adventure at last week’s state dinner is a security breach so unbelievable, I actually don’t believe it. However, the President would do well to heed the alarm being sounded by Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and “In the President’s Secret Service” author Ronald Kessler in this clip from yesterday’s “Today Show.” King calls Obama our “most threatened President ever,” and Kessler says “it’s only a matter of time before there’s an assassination.”

Now that the Salahis have broken their silence and told Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today show, essentially, stay tuned for more, the question is: why did they change their mind after first agreeing to appear on Larry King Live?

Gawker thinks they have the answer – that it was part of their Bravo contract – but Bravo is denying it.

A well-coached, soundbite-full Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the White House Party Crashers, appeared this morning on NBC’s Today show in a two-part exclusive interview with Matt Lauer.

They breathlessly denied any party crashing took place, explained how devastated they were by the whole ordeal, and promised more information to come soon. Just, not today.

The White House press corps peppered Press Secretary Robert Gibbs with questions about the party crashers, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, and he appeared to place the blame squarely on the Secret Service.

During today’s briefing, several correspondents tried to get Gibbs to expand on the announced investigation and vague public comments by the Secret Service. They didn’t have much luck.