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WASHINGTON – The couple that got into the White House state dinner for the visiting Indian prime minister without invitations denied Tuesday that they were gatecrashers.
Appearing on a nationally broadcast morning news show with his wife, Tareq Salahi said the furor surrounding his and his wife Michaele's attendance at the dinner a week ago has been a "most devastating" experience. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs described President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as angered by the incident.
Salahi told NBC's "Today" show Tuesday there's more to their side of the story — an explanation that would exonerate them from allegations of misconduct in the breach of White House security. Appearing on the same program, Gibbs insisted the Salahis had not been invited.
"This wasn't a misunderstanding," Gibbs said. "You don't show up at the White House as a misunderstanding."
For his part, Salahi said he and his wife were cooperating with the Secret Service in its investigation of the incident a week ago. And he said they both have "great respect" for President Barack Obama.
"We're greatly saddened by all the circumstances ... portraying my wife and I as party crashers. I can tell you we did not party-crash the White House," Salahi said.
The White House gate caper captivated a capital frequently as well known for its high-end social life and celebrity eruptions as the occasionally mundane day-to-day business of governance.
Interviewed on MSNBC, Gibbs said "it's safe to say he (Obama) was angry. Michelle was angry."
Gibbs noted that the Secret Service is investigating what went wrong and said the White House was also re-examining its procedures. He told the network, "I think the president really had the same reaction the Secret Service had, and that was great concern for how something like this happened."
Michaele Salahi described the couple as "shocked and devastated" when they saw accounts of the incident the following morning.
Asked if they had been mischaracterized through the media and other paparazzi forums," Tareq Salahi said, "No question ... It's been devastating what's happened to Michaele and I ... Our lives have really been destroyed."
"Everything we've worked for," Michaele Salahi told interviewer Matt Lauer.
"We were invited, not crashers, and there isn't anyone who would have the audacity or the poor behavior to do that," she said. "No one would do that, and certainly not us."
Tareq Salahi said that the couple has been "very candid" with the Secret Service and said "we have turned over documentation to them."
"We're going to definitely work with the Secret Service between Michaele and I to really shed light on this," Tareq Salahi said. He indicated the couple had e-mails that would reinforce their position that they did not go uninvited to the dinner.
The couple also said they had not discussed accepting money from any party or organization, including NBC, for telling their story.
NBC's parent company, NBC Universal, also owns the cable network Bravo. Michaele Salahi had hoped to land a part on an upcoming Bravo reality show, "The Real Housewives of D.C."
On Monday there were more twists in the unfolding mystery of how the Virginia couple managed to get into the highly secured White House dinner Nov. 24 and shake hands with Obama. It was revealed that they communicated with a senior Pentagon official about going to the event, but the official denied that she helped the couple get in.

Michele Jones, a special assistant to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said in a written statement issued through the White House that she never said or implied she would get the Salahis into the event.

"I specifically stated that they did not have tickets and in fact that I did not have the authority to authorize attendance, admittance or access to any part of the evening's activities," Jones said. "Even though I informed them of this, they still decided to come."

Asked about this Tuesday, Gibbs declined to comment directly, except to note that the matter remains under investigation.

WTTG-TV, the Fox affiliate in Washington, reported on a similar incident a month before, in which the Salahis sneaked in through a back entrance to a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Awards dinner at which Obama spoke. A guest complained that the couple didn't belong at his table.

"I double-checked my (guest) list and when they weren't on that list we escorted them out," a foundation representative, Lance Jones, said in an interview early Tuesday.

The Salahis insisted that they had, indeed, been invited to the Black Caucus dinner, saying they'd gotten the invitation from the Gardner Law Group.

The Salahis' lawyer, Paul Gardner, is the managing partner of the Baltimore law firm, which handles corporate and entertainment lazw. A message left early Tuesday at the law firm was not immediately returned.

Also on Monday, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee asked the couple, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan and White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers to testify at a hearing Thursday on the incident.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said he wants answers about the Secret Service's security deficiencies that allowed the Salahis to attend the White House dinner. A White House photo showed the Salahis in the receiving line in the Blue Room with Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in whose honor the dinner was held.

"This is a time for answers," Thompson said in a statement Monday. "This is not the time for political games or scapegoating to distract our attention from the careful oversight we must apply to the Secret Service and its mission."

Some lawmakers have called for criminal charges to be brought against the couple, but the Secret Service has not yet decided whether to refer the case for criminal prosecution.

The Secret Service declined to comment on whether Sullivan would testify Thursday.

The couple's publicist, Mahogany Jones, could not immediately be reached for comment about whether the Salahis would testify Thursday. But earlier Monday, she said allegations that the Salahis were shopping interviews and demanding money from television networks to tell their story are false.

A TV executive who spoke on condition of anonymity to publicly discuss bookings told The Associated Press that the couple's representatives had urged networks to "get their bids in" for an interview.

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Associated Press writers Julie Pace and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.

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Web site: http://www.thegardnerlawgroup.com/about.html

The murder of four police officers in Washington on Sunday cast a pall on the nation's Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and now there's a political controversy brewing over the the main suspect in the killings. Investigators have named former Arkansas prison inmate Maurice Clemmons their primary suspect. Clemmons was released nine years ago after being granted clemency by then-governor and former GOP presidential-candidate hopeful Mike Huckabee. Huckabee now faces questions about that decision, which could damage his standing as a prospective Republican presidential nominee.

Huckabee commuted Clemmons' 1989 conviction for aggravated burglary and theft of property in 2000, citing the fact that Clemmons was only 17 at the time of the crimes. Clemmons, however, violated his parole and was returned to prison in Arkansas, where he remained until 2004. Just six days ago, he was released from a Washington jail on bail after being arrested several months ago for second-degree rape of a child and assaulting a police officer.

Huckabee distanced himself from Clemmons' release in a statement last night, arguing that the commutation was not the final word:

He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990. This commutation making him parole eligible and was paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him.

He went further today on Fox News Radio, saying: ''If I could've known nine years ago, looked into the future, would I have acted favorably upon the parole board's recommendation? Of course not."

Though he's been coy about possible future political ambitions, Huckabee is frequently mentioned as a contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination and remains popular among conservatives. A recent poll of Republican voters conducted by The Washington Post found him trailing only Sarah Palin as the party's favorite candidate for the presidency in 2012. The conservative voters who dominate Republican primary contests, however, frown on anything less than a hard line when it comes to so-called "law and order" issues.

In fact, this line of attack has been used on Huckabee before. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney criticized Huckabee throughout 2007 for his role in the release of convicted murderer and rapist Wayne DuMond. DuMond was released from an Arkansas prison in 1999, only to rape and murder another woman. Romney and Arkansas parole officials claimed Huckabee had played a central role in securing DuMond's release. Huckabee denies it.

The DuMond case haunted Huckabee during his attempt to secure the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. Some dubbed it "Huckabee's Willie Horton" in reference to the clemency case that dogged Michael Dukakis during the 1988 presidential campaign.

If Clemmons is found and convicted of this quadruple murder, the same thing could happen to Huckabee's attempts to win the nomination in 2012.
For now, however, Clemmons is keeping authorities on edge.

-- Brett Michael Dykes is a contributor to the Yahoo! News Blog

PARIS (AFP) –
Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Argentina on Tuesday was awarded the Ballon d'Or accolade as Europe-based footballer of the year.

Messi, whom Cristiano Ronaldo beat into second place last season, easily saw off the Portuguese striker, who moved to Real Madrid from Manchester United, by 473 points to 233.

Messi got the vote for a tremendous year in which his mercurial talents stood out for Barcelona as the Catalan club marched to an unprecedented treble of Champions League - he scored against United in the final - Spanish league title and Spanish Cup.

Barca teammates were also hailed with midfielder Xavi taking third place with 170 points while Iniesta was fourth on 149.

In fifth place was Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o, who left Barca to join Inter Milan in the summer after winning his second Champions League. He was the club's other scorer in the 2-0 final win over United as Barcelona won their third crown.

Messi, who Argentina coach Diego Maradona picked out as his heir four years ago, was in the youth team in Newells Old Boys in his homeland before Barcelona discovered him. The club swiftly brought him to Europe - paying for treatment for the youngster's growth hormone deficiency.Facts: Lionel Messi

"Without growth hormones Lionel would have grown, at best, to 1m50 by the time he reached adulthood," his father Jorge once told L'Equipe Magazine.

Messi becomes the first Argentine to win the award - opened to non-European nationals 15 years ago with Liberia's George Weah the first non-European winner.

Brazilian Kaka, who won two years ago, came in sixth this year with just 58 points.

Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahomovic, now Messi's teammate at Barca after arriving from Inter Milan, placed seventh ahead of Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, Chelsea's Ivorian striker Didier Drogba and Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard.

Gerrard's Liverpool teammate Fernando Torres was 11th and Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas was 12th.

Thierry Henry, another of Messi's Barca colleagues and who has never won the award, came in 15th.

The first winner, in 1956, was England wing wizard Stanley Matthews.

Others honours include Alfredo Di Stefano, Raymond Kopa, Denis Law, Lev Yashin, Eusebio, Bobby Charlton - in England's World Cup-winning year of 1966 - George Best, Gerd Muller, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Kevin Keegan, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Michel Platini, Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Michael Owen and Ronaldinho.

Having added to his growing personal trophy haul, Lionel Andres Messi, nicknamed La Pulga - the flea - is now itching to follow up and transfer his talents to the World Cup stage in South Africa next summer.

Last time out, in 2006, he was a frustrated spectator as former coach Jose Pekerman left him on the bench for the 2006 quarter-final penalty shootout loss on penalties to Germany.