Third White House gate-crasher is Washington event planner
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The third gate-crasher at November’s White House state dinner turns out to be an event planner who got in with members of the Indian delegation, a U.S. official said today.
The person who got into the party for India’s prime minister without being on the guest list was Carlos Allen, who runs an event facility called Hush Galleria in Washington, according to the official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident.
On its website, Hush Galleria promotes itself as arranging black-tie and casual events “to place up and coming individuals with elite individuals in our luxury environment for the purpose of assisting and supporting each other to accomplish self enrichment, business enhancement and community patronization.”
The Secret Service would not identify the man who is under investigation along with Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the couple whose unauthorized entry to the state dinner was disclosed last year. The Secret Service said that, unlike the Salahis, the man never got close to the president or the first lady.
Allen traveled from the hotel where the Indian delegation was staying to the White House with a group of Indian business leaders in vehicles paid for by the Indian government, the U.S. official said. But he was not in the Secret Service’s database of people pre-screened and approved to attend the event. Part of the security screening is a criminal background check that the Secret Service conducts before a guest enters the White House. The Salahis and the man traveling with the Indian delegation did not go through that background check.
But the Secret Service said all three uninvited guests went through other screening, such as metal detectors, before the event.
Allen is a U.S. citizen. His Facebook page says he’s a fan of Michaele Salahi.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the department has reviewed the incident and already made changes to how it handles foreign delegations.Subpoenas have been issued for the Salahis to testify before Congress on the Nov. 24 incident. Through their attorney, the Salahis have said they will invoke their 5th Amendment right to refuse to testify against themselves. The Salahis have been trying to land a part on a Bravo reality show, “The Real Housewives of D.C.,” and were filmed by the TV show around town as they prepared for the White House dinner.
--Associated Press