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WASHINGTON: US investigators probed on Thursday how two aspiring reality TV stars beat several layers of White House security to gatecrash President Barack Obama's first state dinner.
The Secret Service is "conducting a comprehensive review of the incident" at the gala dinner in honour of visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late Tuesday, Special Agent Edwin Donovan told AFP.
Tareq and Michaele Salahi boasted on their joint Facebook page about how they were "honoured to be at the White House for the state dinner in honour of India with President Obama and our First Lady!"
Sporting a black dinner jacket and a flowing red and gold sari, the couple posted photos posing with Vice President Joe Biden, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel - who they mistakenly identified as "Ron Emanuel" - and even three uniformed marines.
A checkpoint "did not follow proper procedures" to ensure they were on the guest list and an internal watchdog of the Secret Service - the agency charged with running White House security - was looking into the incident, he said.
Donovan emphasised that the couple, both in their 40s, "went through magnetometers and other levels of security, as did all guests attending the dinner."
The security breach was highly embarrassing, coming at a major event in Washington's social calendar attended by 300 high-profile guests, including Obama cabinet members, diplomats and Hollywood celebrities.
The White House pulled out all the stops, pitching a large marquee on the south lawn, decking tables with fuchsia and sweet pea arrangements and tall candles and drafting the National Symphony Orchestra to supply the music.
The guest list read like a who's who of the most powerful people in Washington. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were among those invited.
Other notables included film director Steven Spielberg, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, writer Jhumpa Lahiri and spiritual guru Deepak Chopra.
Before the bash, Vice President Biden had ironically indicated the social cache attached to an invitation for the event when he assured the self-effacing Singh: "You are the hottest ticket in town."
The Washington Post described the Salahis as polo-playing socialites from nearby northern Virginia who could be cast in the forthcoming "The Real Housewives of Washington" reality TV show.
Mahogany Jones, who identified herself as a publicist for the couple, told CNN they had "full clearance to attend the state dinner."
The pair's other Facebook photos showed a penchant for posing with the rich and famous, with past shots appearing to show them with polo-loving Prince Charles, President Obama, former president Bill Clinton, former presidential candidate John McCain, television stars Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby and former astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
Michaele Salahi's photos show her as a former Washington Redskins' cheerleader and posing in a skimpy dress for the cover of a local style magazine.
Former White House homeland security advisor Fran Townsend said the couple could now face jail for lying to federal officials, a federal felony.
"So I hope, in addition to their Facebook account, they have good lawyers," she told CNN. - AFP/de
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