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couple at state dinner met president, secret service is sorry |
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Saturday, 28 November 2009* A couple who allegedly weren't invited to Tuesday's state dinner at the White House met President Obama in a reception line at the event, a White House official said on Friday.
Tareq and Michaele Salahi, aspiring reality TV stars, made news when they showed up at Tuesday's state dinner, which was held for visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A White House spokesman said the couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi of Virginia, met the president and first lady in a receiving line at their first state dinner, honoring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India.
That disclosure coincided with a statement in which Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said his agency was “deeply concerned and embarrassed” by the events at the dinner last Tuesday.
The head of the Secret Service says his agency failed to verify whether a Virginia couple was on the guest list when they crashed a White House state dinner.
Director Mark Sullivan said Friday the agency is deeply concerned and embarrassed. He said the crashers — Michaele and Tareq Salahi — should have been prohibited from entering the event for the prime minister of India last Tuesday.
Sullivan added that measures have been taken to ensure the mistake would not be repeated.
* Who is Tareq Salahi?
Tareq Dirgham Salahi (born May 26, 1968) is known for crashing, along with his wife Michaele, the November 24, 2009 White House state dinner in honor of visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.[1][2]
Tareq is the son of Israeli-born Palestinian parents, Dirgham & Corinne Salahi. Dirgham was educated as a petroleum geologist and worked in the Middle East and United States. He retired and settled in Virginia where he became manager of an estate farm which he then subsequently bought. The vineyard and winery were expanded and the estate developed so that ancilliary income could be brought in through use as a function and polo venue. Tareq is a graduate of the University of California, Davis. He is an accomplished polo player and, prior to a bitter family fued that bankrupted the operation, was the CEO & owner of Oasis Winery in Hume, Virginia.[3][4]
Tareq Salahi married Michaele in 2003 in a lavish ceremony at St. Matthews Cathedral in Washington DC with 28 bridesmaids, 28 groomsmen, and, according to a video posted on YouTube and her Facebook page, enjoyed a reception at the Tareq family winery prepared by 46 chefs hosted in a 36,000 square-foot tent, capped off with a 30-minute fireworks display and an eight-foot wedding cake. The guest list included 1,836 guests featuring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, Sen. Mark Warner, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Margaret Heckler. The wedding originally scheduled for October 2002 was postponed numerous times prompting Kennedy to quip that he needed to issue "subpoenas" to the bride and groom.[2][3]
The Salahis are the co-chairs of America's Polo Cup[5][6] and been involved in numerous controversies over the years including allegedly running a bogus charity, numerous fights with their neighbors, a bitter and protracted legal battle for control of the family winery, and allegedly failing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills for the America's Polo Cup.[
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Saturday, 28 November 2009
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