The House Homeland Security committee invited the Salahis to attend a December 3 hearing, but they declined to attend. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
Washington (CNN) - The Virginia couple who slipped through White House security and shook hands with President Barack Obama will invoke the Fifth Amendment, which protects against self-incrimination, if subpoenaed to testify to Congress, according to a letter from the couple's lawyer.
The House Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to subpoena Tareq and Michaele Salahi to answer questions about how they gained entry to the White House on November 24 despite not being on the guest list to attend that night's State Dinner for the prime minister of India.
A lawyer for the Salahis sent a letter to the committee Tuesday saying the Salahis will not testify because of a pending federal investigation by the U.S. attorney in Washington, and because of statements made by some members of Congress about the Salahis last week.
The letter from lawyer Stephen Best said, "The Salahis must contend not only with vilification by the press, but also with a treacherous legal environment that threatens criminal exposure."
The letter said the Salahis have cooperated with the U.S. Secret Service during its investigation.
"They have provided documentation, including telephone records and copies of emails with a White House official, to the investigating agents," the letter stated.
The letter contained signed declarations by each of the Salahis saying, "I hereby respectfully invoke my constitutional right given the legally hazardous environment before me."
The same committee invited the Salahis to attend a December 3 hearing, but they declined to attend.
Cameras captured images of an empty table with name cards on it to represent the absent couple.
Their attorney wrote the committee asking that the Salahis not be force to take the Fifth Amendment in a public hearing, saying that would "result in an unnecessary media spectacle."
The letter attributed quotes about the couple and their situation to some members of Congress.
District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat, is quoted in the letter as calling the Salahis "practiced con-artists who bamboozled the Secret Service and perhaps others as they conned their way past
all required gate keepers....Clearly they were outlaws before they crashed the White House."
The letter also said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, called the Salahis "the perpetrators."
From CNN Politics
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What ever happens to the,"BUCK STOPS HERE". Meaning at the top of the heap President Obemma Stupid.
Throw themin jail where their wannabe butts belong and put an end once and for all to their shenanigans while simultaneously conveying a clear mesage that the White House is NOT to be "crashed" by them or anyone else.
Ok...time to let this go.
So the Salahis love to show "uninvited" but when invited they don't show? Weird people
The Salahis are indicative of the "look at me" culture this society has devolved to. Best bet is fine them, render them persona non grata at any and all DC functions and then ignore them. Pleading the Fifth and the resulting "unnecessary media spectacle" is exactly what they want. Ignore them and they will go away.
So now that they have an invitation to meet and speak with powerful Washington insiders, they have nothing to say?
The Salamis already said they were invited, that that did not crash the state dinner, so they have nothing to hide and should testify.
The Salamis should cooperate with the congressional investigation so all the facts can be established.
Charge them with trespassing !
Investigate the matter, bring charges if warrented, try them and if found guilty, send them to prison.
"Celebrity Lockup: Washington, D.C. - Our reality cameras roll as wannabe celebrities do hard time." I think the most popular episode will be the one where these losers spend the entire time in solitary so we don't have to see or hear them.
Be done with these people, they've had their moment of what was suppose to be flame now resulting in a crime. Hit them with a million dollar fine and forget it.
THIS IS THE "DUMBEST" WASTE OF TIME!!!! This is as lame as the morons wanting Bush and Cheney gang in prison. GET A LIFE LOSERS!!!!!
Put them both in jail until they're ready to talk. We've done it before and for a lot less!!
Arrest them and put their butts in jail. Bet they will talk then.
throw these two in jail
Well they will have to face the consequences of their actions. It was all fun and laughter when this idea was conceived with no regards for the potential danger of the idea all for $$$$. Reality shows in North America has turned most of our people into lunatics the things some people will do for fortune and fame....... Hey the way I see it if you do the crime you should serve the time.....
Since they crave media attention at least as much as Palin, and seemingly have the same level of integrity, one should be her running mate in 2012.
Do we care? No.
Moving on...
ARREST THEM!!! Why weren't they arrested? That was the worst security breach of all times and they were trespassers.
I truly hope NO network picks them up for a reality show. That would be a double-slap in the face!
Enough with them, stop giving them their 15 minutes of fame and send them to jail.
Can this couple be any more despicable? Yeah, they can get on to a live TV show and get all the publicity, but when it is time to fess up, yeah, they invoke the 5th. Now I am waiting for the day when these creeps write a book about their "experience" and America can't wait to lap it up.
Ahhhhhhhhh the famous Sheila Jackson Lee – what a joke!
I do NOT approve of the Salahis' actions but bring in the White House Social Secretary to testify too. What difference does it make if she is a close personal friend of the Obamas. What in the world is this country coming to when a "secretary" is protected as if she were a real member of the elite White House group.
Figures. They just go togatherings they are not invited to. If they had nothing to hide and think they are innocent. They would of gone to capitol hill.
They should be arrested and invited to testify at their trial. A failure allocute should result in maximum sentence under the law.
SO THE SALAHIS ARE TAKING THE 5TH,
Dear Mr. and Mrs Salahis,
How do you explain to the public as you promised you would, your legal and appropriate method for obtaining official invitation to President Obama's first State Dinner? How can you explain this if you take the fifth?
I Like The Line Of Them Being Vilified By The Press, That's Sad But True. I'm Certainly No Fan Of The Salahi's, But With Some In This Congress With Nothing More Than Political Grandstanding. This Lynch Mob Called Congres Want Answers From Everybody.