The Secret Service announced today that a third person who wasn’t on the guest list attended the White House State Dinner in November, in addition to the now-infamous Tareq and Michaele Salahi. Here is the full text of the release:
The Secret Service’s investigation into the security events surrounding the Indian State Dinner on November 24, 2009, has revealed that a third individual, who was not on the White House guest list, entered the State Dinner.
It appears at this point that the subject traveled from a local hotel, where the official Indian delegation was staying, and arrived at the dinner with the group, which was under the responsibility of the Department of State. This individual went through all required security measures along with the rest of the official delegation at the hotel, and boarded a bus/van with the delegation guests en route to the White House.
At present, there is nothing to indicate that this individual went through the receiving line or had contact with the President or first lady.
Unlike the rest of the members of the official delegation, this individual was not entered into the WAVES system.
Procedural changes have already been implemented to address foreign delegations under the responsibility of Department of State who are entering facilities secured by the Secret Service.
As the investigation is both a review of the security for the State Dinner and an ongoing criminal investigation, the Secret Service is not commenting further at this time.
Additional inquiries should be referred to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
