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Citing 'separation of powers,' the White House said Obama social secretary Desiree Rogers would not be testifying at Thursday's congressional hearing.

Washington (CNN) - The White House is being accused stonewalling as Congress investigates the party-crasher security breach at President Obama's first state dinner last week.

At issue: Whether the White House is protecting Social Secretary Desiree Rogers from testifying about how Tareq and Michaele Salahi were able to crash the first White House state dinner. The couple did not have an invite but were allowed in.

Rogers' office planned the dinner.

Members of Congress put pressure on Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan Friday for the grate crashing fiasco. Sullivan said his agency will take the heat for the incident.

"This is our fault and our fault alone," he said. "There's no other people to blame here. ... Look at me and blame me," he told the House Homeland Security Committee.

Lawmakers praised his candor, but bluntly declared that Rogers should be facing tough questions too.

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Related: White House 'stonewalling' on security breach, Republican says

The director of the U.S. Secret Service said Thursday 'appropriate procedures were not followed' at the White House dinner. (Photo Credit: Getty Images/File)

Washington (CNN) – The director of the U.S. Secret Service acknowledged to a House committee Thursday that "appropriate procedures were not followed" when a Virginia couple not on the guest list entered the White House before a state dinner last week.

Mark Sullivan, testifying at a Homeland Security Committee hearing, said a preliminary investigation into the incident has been completed, and the guards involved have been placed on administrative leave with pay. He said that once the extent of culpability is determined, he would take "appropriate action."

"I regret ... that established protocols and procedure were not followed," Sullivan said, calling the breach that began at the White House entry checkpoint "unacceptable and indefensible."

The couple, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, contend they were told they could attend the program to honor India's prime minister, but the White House says they were not invited and were not on the official guest list for the exclusive affair - President Barack Obama's first state dinner.
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'Reflect, Rejoice, Renew,' is the theme of this year's holiday decorations at the White House. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Washington (CNN) - Unveiling the White House Christmas tree and holiday decorations Wednesday, first lady Michelle Obama explained why she chose this year's theme, "Reflect, Rejoice and Renew."

Related video: Mrs. Obama on holiday giving

"For the Obama family, Christmas and the new year has always been a time to reflect on our many blessings, to rejoice in the pleasure of spending time with our family and our friends, and to renew our commitment to one another and to the causes that we believe in," she said in the Grand Foyer of the White House.

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'Reflect, Rejoice, Renew,' is the theme of this year's holiday decorations at the White House. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Washington (CNN) - Unveiling the White House Christmas tree and holiday decorations Wednesday, first lady Michelle Obama explained why she chose this year's theme, "Reflect, Rejoice and Renew."

Related video: Mrs. Obama on holiday giving

"For the Obama family, Christmas and the new year has always been a time to reflect on our many blessings, to rejoice in the pleasure of spending time with our family and our friends, and to renew our commitment to one another and to the causes that we believe in," she said in the Grand Foyer of the White House.
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Washington (CNN) – The White House is adjusting its security protocol to prevent uninvited guests from crashing future events, a top administration official announced Wednesday.

Related: Lawmakers want answers on 'party-crashing' drama

Going forward, White House staff will be stationed at security checkpoints alongside U.S. Secret Service agents, Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina said in a memo posted on the White House Web site.

"Guests will be checked off of the list by White House staff and the Secret Service will continue to ensure that all guests have been properly cleared before entering the White House," Messina wrote in the memo. "Guests whose names are not on the guest list will be assisted by White House staff present at the check point for appropriate resolution."

"As always, the Secret Service will provide security and remain ultimately responsible for controlling access to the White House complex," Messina added.

Related: Social secretary won't testify before Congress, WH says

Washington (CNN) – White House social secretary Desiree Rogers will not by testifying at Thursday's congressional hearing about the recent White House security breach, Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.

"Obviously there's an ongoing assessment and investigation by the Secret Service" into the breach that occurred during the Obama administration's first state dinner, the White House press secretary told reporters in his daily briefing, "We are working with and ready to work with anybody that has questions on that."

But, Gibbs added, "based on separation of powers, staff here don't go to testify in front of Congress. She will not be testifying in front Congress tomorrow."

Related: Lawmakers want answers on 'party-crashing' drama

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The Congressional Black Caucus says the couple who allegedly crashed the White House state dinner last week also crashed an exclusive reception for the foundation in September.

Washington (CNN) – Alleged White House party crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi attended an exclusive reception for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in September, but were asked to leave when it was discovered they did not have tickets for the event, a foundation spokesman said Tuesday.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama also attended that fundraising dinner, but foundation spokesman Lance Jones emphasized that "at no time did Mr. and Mrs. Salahi have access to President Obama and Mrs. Obama."

The Salahis attended Obama's first official state dinner last week for visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but White House officials said they were not invited. Officials say they got into the event due to a breach in security.

The couple has publicly said they did not "party-crash" the state dinner and were cooperating with a Secret Service investigation into the matter.

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Tareq Salahi said Tuesday he and his wife 'did not party-crash' a White House state dinner last week.

(CNN) – Tareq Salahi said Tuesday he and his wife "did not party-crash" a White House state dinner last week.

The Obama administration said Tareq Salahi and his wife, Michaele Salahi, attended but had not been invited to the state dinner for visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and officials say they got into the event due to a breach in security.

Appearing on NBC's "Today" show with his wife, Tareq Salahi said the aftermath of the incident has been "the most devastating thing that's ever happened to us."

"We're greatly saddened by all the circumstances that have, you know, been involved and portraying my wife and I as party crashers - I can tell you, we did not party crash the White House."

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Congress calls for party crashers to testify.

Washington (CNN) - The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee called Monday for the couple who crashed President Obama's state dinner last week and the head of Secret Service to testify at a Thursday hearing on the security breakdown at the White House event.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee chairman, announced that he wants to hear Tareq and Michaele Salahi, and Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, explain how the couple was able to get inside the White House and shake hands with President Obama without being on the guest list.

"This is a time for answers, recognition of security deficiencies past and present, and remedies to ensure the strength of the Secret Service and the safety of those under its protection," Thompson said in a statement. "This is not the time for political games or scapegoating to distract our attention from the careful oversight we must apply to the Secret Service and its mission. My confidence in the management of the Secret Service hangs in the balance." He called the incident a "slap in the face" to other Secret Service employees.

Internal investigations have indicated that the Secret Service didn't follow protocol at at least one security checkpoint.

UPDATE: The House Homeland Security Committee has also invited White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers to be a witness at their Thursday hearing at the request of committee Republicans. Rogers has yet to respond to the invitation.

Congress calls for party crashers to testify.

Washington (CNN) - The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee called Monday for the couple who crashed President Obama's state dinner last week and the head of Secret Service to testify at a Thursday hearing on the security breakdown at the White House event.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee chairman, announced that he wants to hear Tareq and Michaele Salahi, and Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, explain how the couple was able to get inside the White House and shake hands with President Obama without being on the guest list.

"This is a time for answers, recognition of security deficiencies past and present, and remedies to ensure the strength of the Secret Service and the safety of those under its protection," Thompson said in a statement. "This is not the time for political games or scapegoating to distract our attention from the careful oversight we must apply to the Secret Service and its mission. My confidence in the management of the Secret Service hangs in the balance." He called the incident a "slap in the face" to other Secret Service employees.

Internal investigations have indicated that the Secret Service didn't follow protocol at at least one security checkpoint.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Getty Images)

Washington (CNN) - – Secret Service security officials at a perimeter checkpoint failed to "get on the phone" to ask about a couple not listed as guests who sought entry to last week's White House state dinner, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.

The couple was allowed into the event in a security breach at the first state dinner of President Barack Obama's administration.

Tareq and Michaele Salahi met Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other top White House officials during the dinner held for visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The couple was not invited to the event, according to the administration.

Asked repeatedly at his daily briefing about what happened, Gibbs blamed the problem on a lack of communication between the initial screening point and White House organizers.

"If somebody was confused about whether or not somebody was on a list at a guard tower on the perimeter, then why not get on the phone and ask," Gibbs said.

Pressed about the possibility that no one from the White House social office was at the perimeter checkpoint, as reportedly occurred at previous White House dinners, Gibbs said the point is that the Secret Service security crew didn't ask about the couple.

"None of that relay happened between the Secret Service and the social office, whether the social office was at the gate or on the phone in the office," Gibbs said.

Earlier Monday, another administration spokesman said Obama still has "full confidence" in the ability of the Secret Service to protect the first family.
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Washington (CNN) - The White House is "geared up to go on offense" on health care messaging this week, a White House official tells CNN.

As the Senate debate over health care reform gets underway, the administration is planning to "push back on the distortions and misinformation... being circulated by interest groups and opponents." The new offensive includes a video featuring Vice President Joe Biden and the presidents of the American Nurses Association and the American Association of Family Physicians.

(Who do Americans trust more on health care reform, asks Biden in the video: doctors and nurses, or "special interests"?)

The video comes as White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer continued his string of tough November blog posts slamming opponents of President Obama's proposal with a holiday weekend salvo taking on one Washington Post columnist - with the White House pledging more of the same to come.

President Obama meets the Salahis at Wednesday’s state dinner.

Washington (CNN) - An internal investigation into a couple who crashed the White House state dinner this week has found that Secret Service agents did not follow protocol at a security checkpoint, the agency said Friday.

"The Secret Service is deeply concerned and embarrassed by the circumstances surrounding the State Dinner on Tuesday," the agency said in a statement Friday. "The preliminary findings of our internal investigation have determined established protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint, verifying that two individuals were on the guest list."

Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the couple who allegedly crashed this week's White House state dinner, met President Barack Obama in a reception line at the event, a White House official told CNN on Friday.

An internal investigation has found that Secret Service agents did not follow protocol at a security checkpoint.

Full Secret Service statement after the jump:

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President Obama meets the Salahis at Wednesday’s state dinner.

Washington (CNN) - An internal investigation into a couple who crashed the White House state dinner this week has found that Secret Service agents did not follow protocol at a security checkpoint, the agency said Friday.

"The Secret Service is deeply concerned and embarrassed by the circumstances surrounding the State Dinner on Tuesday," the agency said in a statement Friday. "The preliminary findings of our internal investigation have determined established protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint, verifying that two individuals were on the guest list."

Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the couple who allegedly crashed this week's White House state dinner, met President Barack Obama in a reception line at the event, a White House official told CNN on Friday.

An internal investigation has found that Secret Service agents did not follow protocol at a security checkpoint.

Full Secret Service statement after the jump:

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(Photo credit: Getty Images) Michelle Obama and her two daughters, Sasha and Malia, began Christmas preparations Friday, receiving the official White House Christmas tree.  Continuing a White House tradition, the tree was delivered on a carriage to the North Portico. It will be decorated and displayed in the Blue Room later during the day. This year's tree is 18.5 feet tall and was grown on a farm by Eric and Gloria Sundback in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Washington (CNN) – Two Secret Service agents visited a Virginia winery Friday to question a couple whose appearance at a White House state dinner raised eyebrows this week, the winery manager told CNN.

Diane Weiss, manager at the Oasis Winery, in Hume, Virginia, said the agents wanted to speak with Tareq and Michaele Salahi, but Weiss didn't know their whereabouts.

The Secret Service could not be reached for comment.

The Warren County Report, a local newspaper, quoted Weiss as saying the agents said they wanted to speak with the couple and not arrest them. It also quoted her as saying that the Salahis live in Linden, Virginia but receive mail at the winery.

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Washington (CNN) - The Virginia couple accused of crashing President Obama's first White House state dinner on Tuesday are named in at least 16 different civil suits in Fauquier County, sometimes as plaintiffs, sometimes as defendants.

A trawl through court records on Thursday revealed a more complete picture of Tareq and Michaele Salahi, who have left an extensive paper trail in federal bankruptcy and state court filings.

The couple was spotted rubbing elbows with the likes of Vice President Joe Biden and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel at Tuesday's dinner, but the Secret Service says they were not invited.

A Secret Service checkpoint "did not follow proper procedures" to determine if the two were on the guest list, said Edwin M. Donovan, a Secret Service special agent, in a statement.

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