Unwitting tourists attend White House event -

[Jeanette in FL]

This happened before the infamous Salahi family crashed the State Dinner. How in the world can this happen at all and now we have two documented cases of univited people being allowed to get this close to the President of the United States. There is no excuse and it makes the State Dinner crashers even more nefarious.

updated 6:56 p.m. ET, Tues., Dec . 15, 2009

Unwitting tourists attend White House event
Couple was hoping for a tour, ended up getting into invitation-only buffet

WASHINGTON - It wasn't a state dinner, and they didn't crash it on purpose.

Still, a Georgia couple who showed up at the White House a day early for a tour somehow wound up at an invitation-only breakfast with President Barack Obama and the first lady. It left the White House once again explaining how people who were not on an event guest list wound up being ushered into the presidential mansion anyway.

The improbable adventure of Harvey and Paula Darden, Obama supporters from Hogansville, Ga., took place on Veterans Day, two weeks before Virginia socialites Tareq and Michaele Salahi infamously crashed the Obamas' state dinner for the prime minister of India.

The Dardens mistakenly showed up a day early for a tour scheduled through their congressman.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34437846/ns/politics-white_house/?gt1=43001 for the rest of the story.

[whistler162]

1. According to the story they didn't even crash the party...

but where added to the guests as a gesture.

"Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said agents performed the same screening procedures on the Dardens that were used for other breakfast guests: They checked the Dardens' names and did a criminal background check — steps that were not taken for the Salahis at the Nov. 24 state dinner.

Because the Dardens were able to pass Secret Service vetting, they were allowed to attend the breakfast for veterans as a "nice gesture," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said. He added that it's not unusual for White House staff to take people who are cleared in for tours to other events if there is space, including Marine One arrivals, East Room events and Rose Garden ceremonies.

Shapiro said the White House Office of Public Engagement, which Obama created to engage citizens in White House activities, was responsible for clearing in the Dardens, as well as the other breakfast guests. The social office handled admittance to the Indian state dinner."