White House gate crashers: Reality TV in the making (News Feature)

By Pat Reber Dec 1, 2009, 0:38 GMT

Washington - The images are seductive.

A willowy blonde, 44, wrapped in a luxurious, red-and-gold Indian sari, prances hand in hand with her husband in front of cameras at the White House, holding him back as she preens and poses, tilting her head and laughing.

This was Michaele and Tareq Salahi of Virginia, making their grand entrance last week at US President Barack Obama's first state dinner to honour Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The only problem: they were uninvited and crashing the party, hoping it would help them become stars in a planned television reality show about Washington housewives, a stepping stone to national celebrity.

Instead, their stunt has already rocketed the Salahis past workaday celebrity and into infamy.

Every day, cable and broadcast television channels re-run the grand entrance footage. Major newspapers daily publish photos showing Michaele being greeted by Obama in the formal reception line, hamming it up with Vice President Joe Biden, or posing in an older photo in a sexy, white dress alongside her husband in a white tuxedo.

This is fodder for America's insatiable celebrity machine, which just weeks ago cast up the balloon-boy hoax: Colorado parents bidding to become reality TV characters who pretended their 6-year-old was aloft in a huge helium balloon, when he was all the while hiding at home.

The parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, now face jail terms for the hoax, which triggered an hours-long air rescue chase.

On Thursday, the Salahis have been summoned to face some different music before the Homeland Security Committee of the House of Representatives - a body that is seriously worried about the foul-ups that allowed the couple into the White House.

'This is a time for answers, recognition of security deficiencies past and present and remedies to ensure the strength of the Secret Service and the safety of those under its protection,' said Bennie Thompson, the Democrat who chairs the committee.

In addition to the Salahis, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan has been summoned for what he concedes was failure to follow procedures.

Threats against the chief executive have reportedly risen drastically since the country elected its first African-American president. The fact that the Salahis were able to enter the White House without being on the guest list has sounded alarm bells in the US security establishment.

The Secret Service, responsible for guarding Obama, has admitted it was 'embarassed' by the 'failing' that let in the Salahis.

According to the Washington Post, citing an unnamed source, they were admitted at the front gate by an agent who was convinced by their insistent manner and by the pressure of keeping the line of guests moving on a rainy night.

The stunt was uncovered when a Washington Post reporter recognized the couple, who had been in the local news for their reality TV show bid and for a trail of unpaid creditors left behind through their failed Virginia wine business.

The Salahis have reportedly been grilled by the Secret Service, but the Department of Homeland Security said Monday it could not comment on the reports.

The incident has spawned a cascade of reminiscences about past security breaches - like the journalist who threw shoes at former president George W Bush in Iraq; the notorious 'handshake man' minister who bamboozled his way past security during five inaugurations to meet presidents; the small plane that nearly flew into the White House during Bill Clinton's presidency.

The Salahi's vineyard business, apparently closed at present, has been the subject of family conflict, news reports say.

On Monday, Tareq Salahi's estranged brother, Ismail, said he thought the couple should be treated like anyone else in the ongoing investigation.

For Michaele and Tareq Salahi, their new reality on television might be more than they bargained for.