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Secret Service: officers didn't verify crashers

WASHINGTON. - The head of the Secret Service says his agency failed to verify whether a Virginia couple was on the guest list when they crashed a White House state dinner.
     
Director Mark Sullivan said Friday the agency is deeply concerned and embarrassed. He said the crashers - Michaele and Tareq Salahi - should have been prohibited from entering the event
for the prime minister of India last Tuesday.
     
Sullivan added that measures have been taken to ensure the mistake would not be repeated.

Lawyer defends conduct of gate-crashers

They got into a state dinner, uninvited, but was it a crime, or just an embarrassment for the Secret Service?
     
That may depend on just what the Virginia couple said when they arrived at a security checkpoint for the dinner, and whether they lied to security officers.
     
The Secret Service says it's moving closer to a criminal investigation.
     
Their lawyer, Paul Gardner, posted a comment on their Facebook page saying that they were "cleared by the White House to be there." He says more information will come later.
     
Michaele and Tareq Salahi weren't on the guest list for the dinner. The Secret Service acknowledges that its procedures weren't followed.