Desiree Rogers Will Skip Hearing; New White House Social Guidelines

The White House will not allow Social Secretary Desiree Rogers to testify on Thursday before the House Homeland Security Committee, which is looking into how aspiring reality TV stars Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed President Obama's Nov. 24 state dinner, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

And, as the Obama White House kicks off its heaviest entertaining season of the year, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina ordered new guidelines on Thursday to avoid a repeat of such an incident. Messina issued a memo spelling out that in the future personnel from the Social Office will be on duty at each Secret Service guest checkpoint. Rogers has been criticized for not posting a staffer at the entrance to the East Wing, though members of her office were in the vicinity.

In the memo, Messina said the White House did not do "everything" it could have done to block the Salahis from entering. The Secret Service admitted it goofed and did not even try to contact the Social Office when the Salahis name did not appear on the guest list.

"Last night was the first of many holiday parties that will happen in this complex over the next several weeks," Gibbs said at the Wednesday briefing. "We had staff at the security checkpoint to ensure that if there was any confusion about lists, those would be double-checked with somebody representing the Social Office. That was an assessment made based on something that we believed could have been added, and we've made those changes as of last night."

Some 50,000 guests are invited to 28 White House holiday events in the coming weeks.

There's related news on a variety of fronts:

So far, the only witness confirmed for Thursday is Secret Service Director Mike Sullivan. The Salahis were invited to testify, but do not plan to appear at the hearing, said Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).

Committee staff met with the Salahis counsel on Wednesday, I was told.

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the ranking Republican on the panel, told me he also met with the Salahis' lawyer on Wednesday. The attorney showed him e-mails the couple exchanged with a Defense Department liaison who was helping them get invited to the dinner. The Salahis, in a Tuesday interview on NBC's "Today Show" insisted that they were invited. The e-mails do not substantiate that they were indeed invited and, if anything, indicate how they were angling for an invitation.

As for Rogers of the Social Office, Gibbs was asked if she would testify at the hearing.

"Well -- no -- well, first of all, I think that, obviously, there's an ongoing assessment and investigation by the Secret Service into what happened I guess a little more than a week ago. We are working with and are ready to work with anybody that has questions on that.

"I think you know that, based on separation of powers, staff here don't go to testify in front of Congress. She won't -- she will not be testifying in front of Congress," he said.

The Obama White House is not the first to plead separation of powers when it wants to avoid sending staffers to testify on controversial matters. Bush top adviser Karl Rove ignored a variety of invitations to testify before congressional panels.

"It is obvious stonewalling," King told me when we talked on Wednesday afternoon. "Why provoke a needless confrontation? Is there something to hide?"
He rejected the separation of powers argument advanced by Gibbs. It is not, he said, "a case of Desiree Rogers advising the president on policy matters;" it is a matter of talking about Rogers' "cooperation with the Secret Service." He said he hoped the Obama White House would reverse its decision and allow Rogers to testify. He noted that her invitation to testify was approved by Thompson, a Democrat, so the request was bipartisan.

Update:
On Wednesday night Thompson said if the Salahis don't appear at the hearing "the Committee is prepared to move forward with subpoenas to compel their appearance."

THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

December 2, 2009

MEMORANDUM

TO: White House Staff

FROM: Jim Messina, White House Deputy Chief of Staff,

SUBJECT: Review of White House Procedures during the State Dinner on November 24, 2009 and New Guidelines

On Wednesday, November 25, the White House asked the United States Secret Service to conduct a full review of security protocols in place during the State Dinner. After learning of the preliminary findings of the United States Secret Service review, the White House began, over the weekend, to review the procedures that were in place for our staff that night. Below are the findings as well as an important policy change.

I met with the Office of the Social Secretary, which had the lead on the event, as well as other departments, to review their procedures in order to identify what actions were taken and if any changes should occur.

The United States Secret Service announced that the preliminary findings of its internal investigation indicated that established security protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint. As the Secret Service said last week, agents failed to verify that these two individuals were invited guests before they entered the White House.

We believe White House staff can play a role in streamlining this process as a courtesy to our guests and to assist the Secret Service agents who keep us safe. The President believes that the men and women of the Secret Service put their lives on the line everyday to protect him, his family and many others. He thinks that they do an exceptional job and they have his full confidence. We need to do whatever we can to help them succeed in their mission.

After reviewing our actions, it is clear that the White House did not do everything we could have done to assist the United States Secret Service in ensuring that only invited guests enter the complex. White House staff were walking back and forth outside between the check points helping guests and were available to the Secret Service throughout the evening, but clearly we can do more, and we will do more.

Beginning immediately for all official White House events:

• White House staff will be stationed physically at the check points with the United States Secret Service.

• 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.

• 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.