Birth Certificate

North Dakota GOP Posts Birther Joke On Homepage

Eric Kleefeld | December 14, 2009, 3:40PM

The North Dakota Republican Party has a humorous new image on its front page today: A "Joke of the day" that just so happens to involve President Obama's birth certificate.

The picture shows the photo of President Obama shaking hands with state dinner party-crasher Michaele Salahi. Obama is given a speech balloon in which he asks to see Salahi's invitation. She answers: "If I can see your birth certificate!"

I asked Adam Jones, political director for the North Dakota GOP, whether it was appropriate to have a joke involving the president allegedly not being born in this country. "You said the keyword, Eric," he replied. "It's a joke."

I asked again whether he thinks this is a proper thing to put on a state party's homepage. "I think it is a joke, and that would be my only comment for you," he said.

(Via Dave Weigel and Ben Smith)

State Dinner Crashers

Peter King: Rogers Must Testify, But Salahis Have A Lot Going On

Christina Bellantoni | December 3, 2009, 3:57PM

Rep. Peter King (R-NY)

Sounds like Michaele and Tareq Salahi have Rep. Peter King (R-NY) on their side.

King, who says he wants to subpoena White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers over Party Crasher Gate, seems to be more forgiving of the Salahi couple who started the whole affair.

He said this morning on CBS it was up to them if they wanted to testify.

"I think they have enough legal problems without increasing it by testifying," King said.

Rogers, on the other hand, is covering up for the White House by declining to testify, King suggested, asking today what she had to hide.

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Michaele and Tareq Salahi

Gibbs Reacts To King's Push To Subpoena WH Social Secretary

Christina Bellantoni | December 3, 2009, 10:20AM

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reacted this morning to reports that Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said he would push to subpoena White House social secretary Desiree Rogers over last week's infamous party-crashing incident, saying that "we'd be happy to look at it."

He said there is a history of White House staff being able to advise the president confidentially with the few exceptions of Watergate, 9/11 and Whitewater.

"I don't think even Peter King would have the audacity to in some way put the Salahis in the trifecta of Watergate, 9/11 or some of the financial dealings," he said.

Late Update: King responds to the Gibbs dig:

"The only audacity I had was 'the audacity of hope' that the White House would be honest. Unfortunately, they are more interested in covering up and stonewalling."

State Dinner Crashers

Salahis Decline Invitation To Visit Congress

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 2, 2009, 10:25PM

President Obama greeting Michaele Salahi

Congress just found the one spotlight the Salahis would rather stay out of. The AP is reporting that the couple known for crashing the White House state dinner Nov. 24 has decided against accepting the House Homeland Security Committee's invitation to the hearings being held on the state dinner incident tomorrow.

They may not have a choice, however. FishbowlDC reported that Homeland Security Committee chair Rep. Bernie Thompson (D-MS) said he'd subpoena the Salahis should they decline his invitation to appear.

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State Dinner Crashers

House Panel Hears Lone Doorman Theory On Salahis

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 2, 2009, 6:11PM

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY)

Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform emerged from a closed-door briefing on the White House party crashers this afternoon placing blame for the security breach squarely on the shoulders of a single, unnamed Secret Service officer.

"It's very clear that there was one person who allowed these two individuals to go from Station 1 to Station 2," Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the ranking member on the committee, told reporters. "One person's error appears to have led to a person having literally hand-to-hand contact with the Vice President."

Committee chair Edolphus Towns (D-NY) didn't confirm Issa's take on the closed-door briefing with Secret Service officials, but expressed his confidence that an internal investigation into the party crashing by the Secret Service will find a solution to the problem.

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Gate Crashers

Darrell Issa: People Have Crashed White House Parties Before. For Example, Me

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 2, 2009, 5:13PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

At a press gaggle just now, Rep. Darrell Issa told reporters that the Salahis didn't invent White House party crashing.

"This is not the first time -- this has happened before," he said. "I got into the White House when my name wasn't on a slip during the Clinton administration."

As Issa told it, his party crash came in 1995 -- before he was a Representative -- at a NAFTA event held on the White House South Lawn. Issa said he was supposed to be on the list of attendees, but wasn't on the list the gate keepers had. So was turned away at the door. That's when he decided to pull a Salahi and waltz in anyway.

"My name wasn't on, I was rejected, I then walked through with what I recall was the Xerox group," he said. "We just came in en masse."

An Issa aide told TPMDC after the gaggle that Issa's breach did not result in a Secret Service investigation. Or, it seems, a shot at reality TV fame.

State Dinner Crashers

White House Releases Its Own Review After Party Crashers

Christina Bellantoni | December 2, 2009, 4:57PM

Michaele and Tareq Salahi at the State Dinner.

We reported earlier that the White House has changed its procedures for parties after the incident at the state dinner last week.

They just posted the new guidelines on the White House Web site.

The memo, written by Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, praises the Secret Service and details that they failed to stop the crashers when they weren't on the guest list.

The money line in the conclusion goes to the heart of the problem that allowed Michaele and Tareq Salahi to get into the dinner and hobnob with Vice President Joe Biden, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and others.

After reviewing our actions, it is clear that the White House did not do everything we could have done to assist the United States Secret Service in ensuring that only invited guests enter the complex. White House staff were walking back and forth outside between the check points helping guests and were available to the Secret Service throughout the evening, but clearly we can do more, and we will do more.

The memo in full after the jump.

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State Dinner Crashers

House Panel Getting Briefing On Party Crashers

Christina Bellantoni | December 1, 2009, 5:23PM

Tareq and Michaele Salahi

A Capitol Hill source tells TPMDC that members of Congress are getting a briefing about the state dinner incident tomorrow.

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Wednesday at 4 p.m. is holding a members-only briefing about how Michaele and Tareq Salahi were able to get into the state dinner at the White House last week.

Follow TPM's coverage here.

State Dinner Crashers

Gibbs: Social Office Not Problem With Dinner Crashers

Christina Bellantoni | November 30, 2009, 1:52PM

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the investigation into the state dinner party crashers was focusing exclusively on the Secret Service, not administration staffers.

Reporters pressed Gibbs on whether the White House social office was also being investigated since the checks at large events were part of protocol in previous administrations.

"My understanding is Secret Service will look at what the Secret Service did," Gibbs said. "The Secret Service, through the director, has admitted that somebody who wasn't on a list and wasn't waived in was allowed into an event that clearly he said shouldn't be."

Read more »

State Dinner Crashers

Gibbs Says Investigation Into State Dinner Crashers Ongoing

Christina Bellantoni | November 30, 2009, 11:52AM

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had no new information this morning about the party crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi.

"As best I know the Secret Service continues to look into that situation," Gibbs said in his morning gaggle with reporters. "When there is something complete we'll have it."

The Salahi couple, who made a splash by attending the state dinner honoring India without an invitation, have maintained they were invited. Secret Service is doing an internal investigation as to why their names weren't verified from the guest list.

As we reported earlier, they have been called to testify before Congress.

State Dinner Crashers

Tareq Salahi Donated To Virginia Pols And Sold $25K Worth Of Wine For Kaine Inaugural

Christina Bellantoni | November 27, 2009, 7:26PM

Tareq Salahi, DNC chair Tim Kaine and Michaele Salahi

We already know that now-famed party crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi of Hume in Faquier County in Virginia like to pose with celebrities and top politicians, but they also dabble a bit in local political donations.

Tareq Salahi, who owns Oasis Winery, has made two donations large enough to make the federal database - $600 to Republican George Allen's first campaign for the U.S. Senate in Virginia and $1,000 to Rep. Jim Moran's (D-VA) primary campaign in 2006.

Virginia Public Access Project records show that Tim Kaine's inaugural committee bought $25,000 worth of Oasis wine for an event held the night before Kaine's inauguration in 2006 as governor of Virginia.

TPMDC tonight interviewed state Delegate Dave Albo, a Republican from Northern Virginia.

Albo is a longtime friend of the Salahis, even attending an ACDC concert with them recently.

"They are really fun and very nice," he said.

Albo said the Salahis spend a lot of time at social events.

"They are the kind of people who would get invited to something like that," Albo said.

As I reported earlier, they have attended events at the executive mansion and were involved with Virginia tourism promotion and active in the state's winery association.

Salahi also donated $2,500 to a Democratic candidate for delegate in 2007.

State Dinner Crashers

Friends In High Places: The Salahis And The Famous People They Take Pictures With

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 27, 2009, 6:15PM

Vice President Biden and Michaele Salahi

Tareq and Michaele Salahi may not have what it takes to get a White House state dinner invite, but the couple has far-ranging connections with the famous, near famous and wannabe famous.

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State Dinner Crashers

Party Crashers: Who Are Michaele And Tareq Salahi?

Christina Bellantoni | November 27, 2009, 5:22PM

Tareq and Michaele Salahi

For all the consternation about how two uninvited reality show hopefuls were able to crash a state dinner at the White House, much remains unknown about who the husband and wife glitterati wannabes actually are.

TPM has been digging, and on close examination Michaele and Tareq Salahi have been moving in high end social and political circles for quite some time.

The White House is just the creme de la creme of the hot spots they've hit - the Salahis have attended receptions at the Executive Mansion in Virginia, big-dollar dinners for Congressional leadership and appear grinning next to top politicians and celebrities in dozens of photos on the Internet.

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