White House Party Crashers: We Didn't Crash!

Jillian Bandes | December 01, 2009 9:54 AM

That's the latest out of Michaele and Tareq Salahi, who infiltrated Obama's first state dinner with Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh. The Salahi's did not have an invitation and were not on the guest list, but allegedly thought their friend who had spoken about the dinner could get them in. This friend,

Michele S. Jones, is a special assistant to the Secretary of Defense and is a career military man. He said he did exchange emails with the Salahis about the dinner, but adamantly denied suggesting the couple could gain admittance. Here's Jones in a White House statement:

I did not state at any time, or imply that I had tickets for ANY portion of the evening’s events...I specifically stated that they did not have tickets and in fact that I did not have the authority to authorize attendance, admittance or access to any part of the evening’s activities. Even though I informed them of this, they still decided to come.

The Salahis are embroiled in controversy over a bankrupt winery they own in northern Virginia, and are reportedly in line to appear in the forthcoming reality TV show, “The Real Housewives of Washington.” They are scheduled to testify before Congress on Thursday for criminal activity.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs flatly denied the possibility that there might have been a mix-up.