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Security breach at White House dinner

Washington: An unprecedented security breach took place at the high-profile ‘black tie’ state dinner when a Virginia couple entered the White House uninvited and had a “wonderful time” in the company of President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Although Mr. Obama and Dr. Singh were never in any danger because the uninvited guests went through the same security screening as the 300-plus high profile guests, the U.S. Secret Service is investigating how Michaele and Tareq Salahi, a couple of aspiring reality TV stars from Northern Virginia, managed to slip into Tuesday night’s state dinner, though they were not on the guest list.

The Washington Post broke the story after the couple went on to boast about their coup on a Facebook webpage, in which they appear in photos with Vice President Joe Biden, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and TV news anchor Katie Couric.

According to the daily, the polo-playing socialites, known for a bitter family feud over a Fauquier County winery and their possible roles in the forthcoming “The Real Housewives of Washington,” were seen arriving at the White House. They later posted on Facebook, photos of themselves with VIPs at the elite gathering.

“Honoured to be at the White House for the state dinner in honour of India with President Obama and our First Lady!” one of them wrote on their joint Facebook page at 9:08 p.m.

Mahogany Jones, who described herself as a publicist for the Salahis, denied that they were interlopers. “The Salahis were honoured to be a part of such a prestigious event... They both had a wonderful time,” Mr. Jones was quoted as saying by the Post. — PTI

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Security breach at White House dinner

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