Talk about the party that never ends! Phew. Yesterday the Secret Service confirmed that there had indeed been a third "crasher,' in addition to the Salahis, at last year's White House state dinner. Though calling him a crasher seems a tad unfair since he was apparently brought along by the Indian delegation (the Indian prime minister being the reason for the dinner in the first place), and additionally did not show up with a reality film crew in tow. (more...)

I'm at the House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on Crashergate, where 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. (more...)

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. (more...)

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. Given the very best possible interpretation, the emails show that Michelle Jones was working to get the Salahis tickets to the arrival ceremony prior to the dinner, but explicitly tells them that the dinner has been full up for months. The emails leave open the possibility, however unlikely, that the Salahis might attend the arrival if tickets became available. That leaves open the possibility that the couple passed through the first checkpoint as legitimate attendees of the arrival ceremony. I asked the White House about the arrival ceremony specifically, and a White House official told me that "the Salahi’s were not cleared to enter the White House grounds for any reason." Michele Jones never confirms either event for the couple in the emails, except to accept their thanks the following day. The crux of their defense, then, is that they went to the White House just to check if Jones had managed an 11th-hour miracle, and they say in a thank-you email that they were, indeed, on the list. The email conveniently explains that their cellphone battery had died, so they wouldn't have received any calls telling them not to go. The White House and the Secret Service have now fairly definitively ruled out every scenario that could vindicate the Salahis. While their future as reality TV stars may be bright, it looks like they could face serious trouble for what looks more and more like a ridiculous security breach.

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, barring the emergence of exculpatory "stunning details" that were absent from this morning's useless "Today Show" interview, 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." (more...)

The latest development in the saga of the polo-playing, dove-throwing socialites who crashed the first state dinner of the Obama administration is something that we suggested yesterday: Michaele and Tareq Salahi may have had help from the inside. (more...)

As we head into the news hell that is a long holiday weekend, you can be sure to learn more than you ever wanted to know about the White House Party Crashers, Tareq and Michaele Salahi. Of primary concern is how this pair of Chester Cheetah-level socialites managed to brazenly blow their way past the Secret Service and into the White House for the ultra-exclusive State Dinner in the first place. My expert opinion? They didn't.

The Salahis, owners of the Oasis Winery and the America's Cup of Polo, are rumored to be part of Bravo's upcoming "Real Houeswives of DC" reality show. Actually, there are more than rumors. In September, the Salahis were spotted being trailed by a Bravo film crew, and Michaele Salahi's makeup artist reported seeing a TV crew filming them as they prepared to crash the state dinner. Though Bravo declined to make a statement yesterday (even to NBC News, part of its corporate family!), today Bravo reluctantly confirmed that a "Real Housewives" camera crew was ineed with the Salahis as they crashed their way to the most exclusive ticket in town. They've got a flair for the dramatic, as their cheese-tastic wedding video shows.Yes, they're throwing doves. (more...)

video An uninvited couple crashed President Obama’s first White House state dinner Tuesday night breaking through layers of security. The couple, according to the Secret Service, are Tareq and Michaele Salahi, they are also reportedly being considered for Bravo's TV show "Real Housewives of D.C." The security breach is sure to be fodder for the late night talk shows, but raises some rather significant concerns over White House security detail. (more...)

What could be better for the slowpoke day-before-Thanksgiving than a glittering White House State Dinner, with its photos to page through (Michelle Obama's looks like a beautiful Oscar! Desiree Rogers is in Commes Des Garcons!) and its guest list to parse (where was Richard Holbrooke? Chris Dodd made the cut but Harry Reid didn't? Hey! I forgot all about M. Night Shymalan!) (more...)