House panel to hold hearings on couple who crashed White House dinner
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The couple who apparently crashed a White House state dinner got an invitation to another government event: The House Homeland Security Committee announced that it will hold a hearing this week on how they gave security the slip.
In a statement posted on the committee’s website, Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, said he had requested that Tareq and Michaele Salahi testify before the panel. Also asked to appear was Mark Sullivan, head of the Secret Service, which handles security for the White House. Sullivan has formally apologized for the incident, which he called an embarrassment to the agency.
“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,†Thompson said.
“This is not the time for political games or scapegoating to distract our attention from the careful oversight we must apply to the Secret Service and its mission. My confidence in the management of the Secret Service hangs in the balance,†he said.
The hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
The Salahis, who were not on the official guest list, attended the state dinner for the Indian prime minister last week and even shook hands with President Obama and others on the receiving line. The couple reportedly were in the running for a reality television show.
-- Michael Muskal
Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal
