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November 27, 2009 Secret Service Apologizes for Allowing Pair at State DinnerPosted: 06:52 PM ET
By HELENE COOPER and DAVID STOUT From The New York Times WASHINGTON — The celebrity-seeking couple who snuck into a state dinner this week came face-to-face with President Obama and his wife, Michelle, the White House said Friday in a disclosure that underscored the seriousness of the security breach and prompted an abject apology from the Secret Service. A White House spokesman said the couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi of Virginia, met the president and first lady in a receiving line at their first state dinner. That disclosure coincided with a statement in which Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said his agency was “deeply concerned and embarrassed” by the events at the state dinner last Tuesday. “The preliminary findings of our internal investigation have determined established protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint, verifying that two individuals were on the guest list,” Mr. Sullivan said. “Although these individuals went through magnetometers and other levels of screening, they should have been prohibited from entering the event entirely,” Mr. Sullivan said. “That failing is ours.” Shortly before the disclosure from the White House and the statement by Mr. Sullivan, the Secret Service said it wanted to interview everyone connected with the incident, including the couple, and had not ruled out criminal charges.“Everyone who has some information to contribute” will be contacted, said James Mackin, a spokesman for the Secret Service. Filed under: President Barack Obama
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