美夫妇混入白宫蹭国宴

Crashing a state dinner at the White House apparently takes a security breakdown as well as some kind of nerve.

The Secret Service is looking into its own security procedures after determining that a Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, managed to slip into Tuesday night's state dinner at the White House even though they were not on the guest list, agency spokesman Ed Donovan said.

President Barack Obama was never in any danger because the party crashers went through the same security screening for weapons as the 300-plus people actually invited to the dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Donovan said.

The Salahis are well-known in the Virginia horse-country set and were being considered for the Bravo reality TV show Real Housewives of DC.

In an interview with the CBS Early Show in September, Michaele Salahi said, "President Obama has made it very accessible for anyone to visit the White House, so that's like a big thing right now."

The Secret Service learned about the security breach on Wednesday after a media inquiry prompted by the Salahis' online boasts about having attended the private event, Donovan said.

One of the many photos from the dinner posted on Michaele Salahi's Facebook page shows the couple with a smiling Vice President Joe Biden. In other photos, they appear alone or together with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, CBS News anchor Katie Couric and three Marines in their dress blues.

The Washington Post said uninvited guests who got in could face a potential trespassing charge unless someone from inside the White House staff slipped them in. Donovan would not comment on possible legal violations.

"It's important to note that they went through all the security screenings - the magnetometer screening - just like all the other guests did," Donovan said. And, he added, Obama and others under Secret Service Protection had their usual security details with them at the dinner.

擅闯白宫国宴除需要一些勇气外，显然还要突破重重安全防线。

据美国特情局发言人艾德•多诺万介绍，在本周二白宫举行国宴当晚，来自弗吉尼亚州的米夏埃尔和塔利克·萨拉希夫妇不请自来，并成功混入宴会现场。目前情报局正在调查当晚的安防程序。

据多诺万介绍，因为这对不速之客和其他宾客一样，都接受了武器扫描安检，所以并没给奥巴马总统带来什么危险。当天的国宴为款待印度总理曼莫汉·辛格而举行，共有300多位宾客受邀出席。

萨拉希夫妇在弗吉尼亚州的马球界小有名声，并可能将参演Bravo电视台的一档名为《华盛顿主妇的真实生活》的真人秀节目。

今年9月，米夏埃尔•萨拉希在接受CBS《早间秀》节目的采访时说：“奥巴马总统上任后，任何人似乎都有机会参观白宫，所以现在这成了件大事。”

据多诺万介绍，萨拉希夫妇参加完宴会后在网上大加炫耀，而本周三媒体则爆出消息质疑国宴安保漏洞，这时美国特勤局才得知情况。

在米夏埃尔•萨拉希上传至Facebook的众多照片中，有一张是这对夫妇和副总统乔•拜登的合影，照片上的拜登面带微笑。在其它照片中，有些是夫妻俩的单独合影，有些则是两人与白宫总管拉姆•伊曼纽尔、华盛顿市长阿德利安•芬迪、哥伦比亚广播公司新闻主播凯蒂•考瑞克和三名身穿蓝色制服的海军高官的合影。

《华盛顿邮报》称，这对不速之客可能会面临擅闯白宫的指控，除非白宫内部人员私自放他们进去。多诺万拒绝就此事可能涉及的违法行为进行评论。

多诺万说：“需要指出的是，他们和所有其他宾客一样，通过了所有的安检关，包括磁力检测。”他说，宴会当晚，奥巴马和其他受特情局保护的高官都有专人保护。

Vocabulary:

breakdown: the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue 使系统崩溃的行为

crasher: someone who gets in (to a party) without an invitation or without paying 不速之客

security detail:A security detail more often known as a PSD, standing for Protective Services Detail, Personal Security Detachment, or Personal Security Detail is a protective team assigned to protect the personal security of an individual or group. PSDs can be made up of military or private security personnel.（安保小队）