November's state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returned to the headlines on Monday when the U.S. Secret Service announced that a third uninvited guest managed to get inside the party.
The alleged crasher, Washington area event planner Carlos Allen of marketing group Hush Galleria, originally denied attending the event at all, but his lawyer confirmed his attendance yesterday, claiming Allen had been invited.
Allen's situation is different from the first reported crashers, Tareq and Michaele Salahi. Instead of arriving at check-in at the White House, Allen apparently met an Indian delegation at the Willard Hotel, went through security screenings on site, and boarded a van for the White House. Once at the White House, Secret Service agents waved the entire group in, under the pretense they'd already been screened. No one has confirmed whether Allen was ever asked to show identification.
Also unlike his his cohorts—whom he denies knowing—Allen was not photographed with the president and reportedly never made it to the receiving line.
Because of the screening process for the Indian delegation, many are blaming the State Department for Allen's alleged entry, although the Secret Service has accepted responsibility.
