Was Carlos Allen the Third State Dinner Crasher?

(Jan. 5) -- Tareq and Michaele Salahi weren't the only ones who got into the state dinner at the White House without an invitation. The Secret Service confirms there was a third party crasher. But the man accused of the security breach denies it was him.

A congressional source told The Washington Post that Carlos Allen, a party promoter in the nation's capital, was the uninvited guest. A statement from the Secret Service did not identify the crasher but said he got into the White House with the official Indian delegation to the Nov. 24 dinner honoring that country's prime minister.

"I did not attend the state dinner," Allen declared three times in remarks to Politico.

Carlos Allen with Michaele Salahi, right

Marcus Dijon, Devine Studio/Hushgalleria.com

Carlos Allen poses with Michaele Salahi, right, and an unidentified woman.

However, there have been rumors circulating online for weeks that Allen did indeed "pull a Salahi" at the White House. Sanam Toossi, a contributor to the blog Ask Miss A, said she met Allen at a Nov. 25 charity event and reported he "had attended the state dinner the night before." Allen posted pictures on his Facebook page of himself at the dinner, the blog said, but took them down when the Salahi scandal erupted.

Asked about those reports, Allen told Politico, "I don't know what you're talking about."

There are online clues that indicate Allen and the Salahis travel in the same Washington social circles. On Facebook, Allen lists himself as a Michaele Salahi fan. A photo of them together is posted on his Hush Galleria page. Plus, Gawker notes, Allen and the Salahis are all polo enthusiasts.

The Secret Service reportedly discovered the third crasher while reviewing security video in early December but didn't say anything until Newsmax ran a story Monday by Ronald Kessler -- who's also written a book claiming the agency is stretched too thin and cuts corners in presidential protection.

Even though nobody is saying there was any threat to the president, Hot Air's Allahpundit considers this another of the recent "catastrophic or near-catastrophic breakdowns in security" -- including the Fort Hood massacre, the attempted bombing of Flight 253 and the suicide bombing at a CIA base in Afghanistan.

"It's easier to get into the White House these days than it is to board an airplane," cracked The Lonely Conservative blog.

"The fact that the uninvited guests passed through metal detectors is only mildly reassuring in the post-24 era. We've seen Jack Bauer kill or maim countless baddies with whatever object happened to be close at hand," Amy Sullivan added on Time's Swampland blog. "At some point, this stops looking like a few hiccups on opening night and more like a serious security breakdown."