Polo-playing socialite Tareq Salahi and his wife Michaele testify before Congress, plead the Fifth and claim the have been falsely accused. Meanwhile, Washington Life has been told that the Secret Service was warned about the couple after a previous crash attempt during an inauguration event at the Lincoln Memorial.
By John Arundel
Afghanistan Ambassador Said and Shamim Jawad, Abigail and Congressman Roy Blunt, and Michaela and Tareq Salahi at the 2008 Ambassador’s Ball. (Photo by Tony Powell, Courtesy of Washington Life Magazine.)
“It will truly be a historic moment,” said Tareq Salahi, speaking to Washington Life magazine last week. “Not since the 1950s has Congress held hearings of such a historic nature.”
In 1950, Congress held hearings on White House security after two Cuban nationalists stormed Blair House across the street from the White House, imperiling the security of then-President Harry S Truman, who was staying there while the executive mansion was undergoing renovations.
Tareq Salahi told Washington Life that he and his wife would exercise their Fifth Amendment rights (which they did) in order to avoid being witnesses against themselves when they appear before the House Subcommittee on Homeland Security, keeping the disclosure of their invitation under wraps until a Wednesday-afternoon news conference at the Capitol.
When asked why he would not divulge their evidence at the House hearing, Tareq responded: “The answer’s easy. Eleanor Holmes Norton.”
