The “Seperation of Powers” is exactly why Desiree Rogers should testify or at least provide some sort of written testimony pertaining to her official interactions with the US Secret Service.

[US Secret Service Director Mark] Sullivan said there were three vehicle checkpoints and two pedestrian ones, and a guest list was at each, meaning the Salahis had to move through several layers of security checks. “Were they on any of those lists?” [US Representative Bennie] Thompson asked. “They were not,” Sullivan replied. via Secret Service chief: Breach was ‘indefensible’ – CNN.com.

That testimony above is why I believe Secret Service didn’t do their job: no ticket and no name on list should have meant no entry. The Director of the Secret Service and more importantly his report who is tasked with the charge of security for either the White House grounds or special events is directly responsible. I would even throw in the guards the crashers passed by on the way in to the event. This lapse was too serious not to have someone in Secret Service reassigned, reprimanded or let go for not doing this properly.

Unless some new information arises to implicate Rogers or her staff, this is beginning to seem more like some of these folks are letting the attacks on Rogers get to far beyond the basic issues at hand. Urban Radio reporter April Ryan asked Gibbs if there was truth to the “rumors” about Rogers being a poor planner and a “last minute” person. Ryan added that people around town had begun to believe that it is an issue that she was in “fashion spreads” and she asks if the White House put the “breaks” on that because “it’s been batted around Washington” that GOPers and Dems are beginning to “call her the bell of the ball” as she overshadows the FOTUS. This is not clear from some of the prior coverage of Rogers events including bill signings, championship sports team receptions and service events, the annual Easter Egg Roll, Inauguration events (including coordination with the various Inaugural balls), the Poetry & Jazz Jams, Women’s History celebrations and the Diplomatic Do. Un-sourced quotes will be the cornerstones of these articles about Rogers, and her image is pretty much screwed. When asking anyone currently or formerly in Secret Service, it seems they do one thing: lay responsiblity at the feet of Secret Service. On or off the record.

The only sourced detraction or jab comes from former Guest List coordinator Cathy Hargraves:

If she had been on the job at the White House last Tuesday night, the Salahis “would not have made it past the East Gate portico,” she says. Once she had ascertained that they had not been invited, she says, she would have called in the Secret Service officer who let them through in the first place, and “they would have been escorted out.” […] “For me, it was all about the house,” she says. “For me, [state dinners] are magical moments, and you have to be so organized. A state dinner requires a lot of work, and maybe they didn’t realize this going into it.” via White House Guest-List Chief Says She Quit Post – Declassified Blog – Newsweek.com.

A reporter who was paying attention, would have asked Hargrave if a non-credentialed guest arriving at the East Portico, aka the White House’s doorstep, was a serious security breach in of itself, no matter how she would have turned them back. Instead she was allowed to sneer her way through a variety of revenge quotes. One question would be:

• “Mrs. Hargrave, how in the world do they get to the East Portico (The east doorway) of the White House if they aren’t on a list at any of the gates?”
• “MRs. HArgrave you would have called in the Secret Service officer who let them through in the first place? So if you would have been list administrator at the Obama state dinner, Mrs. Hargrave you would have directed a US Secret Serviceman to abandon his post at the secure perimeter of the White House to help double check a guest list?”

Doubt it. Hargrave, who earlier in the article admits it was not an amiable split, intimates that maybe Rogers “didn’t realize” that a state dinner “requires a lot of work”. Get it? Rogers is a lazy party animal who loves nothing more than her own reflection. Despite the fact Rogers has hosted events for:

• George W Bush’s 2004 campaign
• Senator Barack Obama’s 2008 bid
• various Chicago power brokers is clueless when it comes to planning high profile dinners.
• The nations governors (in the White House)

Take it from the jilted guest list coordinator: Rogers is in Washington, D.C. to slide by with some showing off and a thick dose of Nawlins charm w/Chicago arrogance. Except Rogers has a career of throwing corporate events, political fundraisers and has thrown many events in this first year of the Obama White House.

This morning on Morning Joe, Norah O’Donnell recounts discussions with some ambassadors regarding the diplomatic reception that was at the White House this summer. O’Donnell mentioned that some ambassadors and foreign dignitaries forgot identification, and they were required to wait outside for 45 mins or more while their drivers or aides went to retrieve proper credentials. This reception is informally named the “Diplomatic Do” and is the annual reception honoring the Diplomatic Corps and Charges d’affaires. This is a social event, at the White House hosted by the FLOTUS and POTUS. Rogers most probably planned this event and I would believe the Secret Service guarded the entrances. Somehow, the Secret Service was able to say: no ID? no entry. It seems the protocol worked for that event. Rogers is guilty of assuming, from prior experience, that the Secret Service could read names from a guest list. She should testify, provide the list she provided for Secret Service and have a staffer accompany the Secret Service at entrance points to social events, just to be safe.

Bonus: Here is video of a Desiree Rogers disaster (the Diplomatic Do held on July 27th, 2009). Behold as she overshadows the FLOTUS, POTUS and everyone else (who does she think she is?!?!)