http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/archive/2009/11/29/white-house-guest-list-chief-says-she-quit-post.aspxThe White House staff member whose job was to supervise the guest list for state dinners and clear invitees into the events says she was stripped of most of her responsibilities earlier this year, prompting her to resign last June.
The account of Cathy Hargraves, who formerly served as White House "assistant for arrangements," raises new questions about whether changes that she says were made by President Obama's social secretary, Desiree Rogers, may have contributed to the security lapses that permitted Virginia socialites Michaele and Tareq Salahi to crash the state dinner for India's prime minister last week and get themselves photographed with the president.
Hargraves tells Declassified in an exclusive interview that although she had originally been hired as a White House political appointee in 2001, she landed a new position on the White House residence staff in 2006 and was specifically detailed to the social office to work on state dinners.
Her job duties included overseeing the invitations for guests at state dinners and keeping track of RSVPs, she says. On the evening of state dinners, she says, she physically stood at the East Gate portico entrance and greeted each of the guests as they arrived, checking their names off a computerized printout of those who had been invited.
But when she met with Rogers last February and went over her job responsibilities, she says, the new social secretary told her, "We don't feel we have a need for that anymore." Rogers's explanation, according to Hargraves: "In these economic times, I don't think we're going to have very many lavish expensive dinners. It wouldn't look very good."
A White House official (who asked not to be named because of the ongoing investigation) has refused to comment on any aspect of Hargraves's account, saying, "It doesn't matter," because the Secret Service has already publicly apologized for violations of its own procedures that allowed the Salahis to crash the Tuesday-night event.
-snip-
Still, Hargraves's account may be relevant because White House social secretary Rogers has publicly acknowledged that nobody from the social office was physically present at the White House East Gate entrance during Tuesday night's dinner to resolve any questions about whether the Salahis were invited. (This has prompted Rep. Peter King, the ranking Republican on the House homeland-security committee, to suggest the social office's policies should be reexamined as part of a congressional investigation into the incident.)
-snip-
----------------------------
passing the buck (passing the basketball)
and the buck stops on whose desk last?
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
