The pair of alleged party crashers, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, who managed to sneak into the White House dinner party last week still maintain they were invited. The White house and Secret Service continues to deny this, and a Congressional hearing into the matter has been scheduled for Thursday.
Tareq and Michaele Salahi originally were scheduled to appear on Larry King Live on Monday, but they decided against that. It was reported by television industry executives last Saturday that Michaele and Tareq Salahi were looking for big money for their first television interview. Instead, the couple appeared on "The Today Show" on Tuesday.
Tareq Salahi and his wife Michaele spoke to TODAY's Matt Lauer, and continued to insist they had a valid invitation to the White House dinner party from last Tuesday. That exclusive dinner party was held to fete visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
In the couple's first television interview, the couple told Lauer, “This has been the most devastating thing that’s ever happened to us. We’re greatly saddened by all the circumstances that have been involved in portraying my wife and I as party crashers. I can tell you we did not party crash the White House.”
Michaele herself added that the media attention has destroyed their lives. It is unclear if this truly is the case; reports are that Michaele has been vying for a position on the new reality TV show "The Real Housewives of Washington, D.C." “Our lives have been destroyed, everything we’ve worked for, Matt. For me, 44 years, just destroyed.”
Certainly, while they state it has ruined their lives, it has brought them a degree of media attention that perhaps they desired, in order to get on a reality show. In fact, the attention brought to them has made searches for Michaele Salahi photos a hot query. She is a former fashion model (shown above with a Facebook photo).
Lauer asked Tareq and Michaele Salahi specifically if they had been invited to the White House. Their answer was a resounding yes. Michaele said: “We were invited, not crashers. There isn’t anyone that would have the audacity or the poor behavior to do that, certainly not us.”
Tareq and Michaele Salahi's audacity has come under question with regards to their statements, as other questionable claims in the past have emerged. For example, one of the claims that Michaele Salahi has made is that she was a Washington Redskins cheerleader. She told the Washington Post that, but the cheerleaders have no record of her being a member of the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders, and neither could the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders Alumni Association find any record of her.
Further, late Monday, a local Washington, D.C., television station reported that Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Awards dinner on Sept. 26 at which Obama spoke. The station reported they were escorted out after being found sitting at a table reserved for a different donor. The couple denied this vehemently, with Tareq saying, “Were we escorted out? Of course not. That’s just another gossip, rumor, just unfortunately (the way) this story got started, through a gossip column.”
Despite all the rumors and ongoing investigations, the Salahis are convinced that after all is done, the truth "will out" and they will be vindicated. Tareq Salahi's conclusion was, speaking to Matt Lauer, “We are certain we will be exonerated."
Written by Michael Santo
HULIQ.com
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