January 4, 2010
Updated
Well the Salahi’s got all the bad press from crashing the State Dinner. The middle-aged couple who got in during the Veterans’ Day breakfast was not mentioned until weeks after the Salahis and only now is the Secret Service mentioning a third crasher at the State Dinner. Seems security is not job one in this administration.
The Secret Service stated a third uninvited person – not on Desiree Rogers’ official guest list (heard about her lately?) – crashed the State Dinner by entering with the PM Singh’s official delegation. Evidently the unnamed person traveled from a local hotel with the Indian delegation and walked right in.
Yes, the SS is at fault and the State Department presumably – but why didn’t the Indian delegation know? The unnamed person was not smuggled in in a suitcase. They traveled with the legitimate guests and the legitimate guests had to know that person didn’t belong.
Bottom line – the system failed and the Indian crasher was not entered into the WAVES system.
So what are the odds the WAVES list Robert Gibbs released is even meaningful?
It’s clear now folks get into the WH without the WAVES being accessed.
Full Secret Service statement.
*MSNBC is reporting it was a male US citizen who was with a group of Indian business leaders before the state dinner.
The man is a U.S. citizen and was with a group of Indian business leaders before the state dinner, according to a State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation. The Indian embassy asked the State Department to transport the group to the White House dinner, the official said, adding that it’s rare for the agency to provide these services to delegations visiting the United States in a nonofficial capacity.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the agency has reviewed the incident and already made changes for how it handles foreign delegations.
