The White House gatecrashers had been summoned to appear before the House Homeland Security Committee to explain how they got past the U.S. Secret Service last week at a state dinner for the Indian prime minister.
A nameplate reading "Mrs. Salahi" sat to one side of the witness table. Huge blowups of their grip-and-grins with Vice President Joe Biden and others were on display. Dozens of paparazzi jostled in a hallway of the Cannon House Office Building to await their arrival.
Alex Ogle, AFP / Getty Images
Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan prepares to testify before the House Homeland Security Committee during a hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill.
Alas, despite the threat of a subpoena, the couple Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" dubbed "The Real A–wipes of Washington D.C." didn't show up.
The Salahis' publicist, Mahogany Jones, issued a statement saying the couple had already provided information to the committee and the Secret Service and had nothing to add. She didn't mention another reason they have to lay low: the state of Virginia has launched an investigation into fundraising by the couple's America's Polo Cup business.
Without the star attractions, lawmakers settled for the nearest thing to pass for theater in the nation's capital: the congressional oversight hearing.
"Some people have asked me why we are having this hearing," said Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chairs the oversight committee. "Let me be clear: This hearing is not about crashing a party at the White House. Neither is it about wanna-be celebrities or reality television. On the contrary, this hearing is about real-world threats to the nation."
Perhaps, but the White House refused to send social secretary Desiree Rogers, either. It cited the separation of powers and the rarity of staffers testifying before Congress.
Senior White House aide Valerie Jarrett said Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that there was no need for Rogers, whose staff was in charge of the guest list for the dinner, to testify. "We think we've really answered the questions fully," she said.
Rep. Peter King of New York, the ranking Republican, disagreed. He accused the White House of "stonewalling" by refusing to allow Rogers to appear, saying other executive branch officials have testified to other committees. "This is not a separation of powers issue," King said. He added that the panel was getting just "half the picture" at Thursday's hearing.
That half was U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, who sat alone at the witness table.
He expressed regret that "standards and procedures were not followed" at the dinner and took responsibility. "In our judgment, a mistake was made. In our line of work, we cannot afford even one mistake," Sullivan said.
Three uniformed officers had been put on administrative leave, he said. "Pure and simple, this was human error."
Sullivan gave few details of the security breakdown because it is still being investigated. But he said that when Secret Service agents at an initial checkpoint didn't have the Salahis' name on the guest list, they should have contacted a supervisor, the White House staff and a security control center. "None of that happened," he said.
"It would have helped," he said, if a representative from Rogers' office had been at the checkpoint.
The social secretary, no stranger to glamor herself, was the primary target for Republicans. Democrats on the committee leaned toward the Secret Service as the main culprit.
"There was undeniable planning and execution failures of the entire Secret Service apparatus," Thompson said.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, held up photos from the Salahis' Facebook page.
"This is a law enforcement issue," she said.
