The case of the third so-called White House party crasher gets "curiouser and curiouser," as Alice in Wonderland would say.

Three days ago, Hush Society Magazine CEO Carlos Allen repeatedly told Politico that he did not attend a White House state dinner for the prime minister of India back in November 2009 -- the same event reality-show wannabes Michaele and Tareq Salahi slipped in to without invitations and snapped photos with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Allen denied he was there despite video footage that appears to show him entering the White House with a delegation of Indian business people who were invited guests.
(See the alleged crash in action below, followed by the obligatory slo-mo replay. Does this look like a man who's getting over? Judge for yourself.)



Then a day later, Allen's lawyer A. Scott Bolden said that his client was, in fact, invited to the gala . "My client had an invitation," said Bolden, according to WUSA-TV. "He received an invitation in the mail. That's his story, that he was appropriately and properly credentialed, he cleared security with the Secret Service at some point in time, and was allowed in to the reception, stayed for the dinner, stayed for the performance, and left." When asked by ABC News to produce the invitation, Bolden said he had not yet seen the original.

What Really Happened?

Meanwhile, the Secret Service says Allen was "not on the White House guest list" and is investigating his presence at the event as a security breach. He is not suspected of gripping and grinning with the President, Salahi-style. Allen is cooperating with the investigation, said Bolden.

This is how he allegedly managed to get in without the required screening for invited guests:

Sources tell ABC News the D.C.-area man met the Indian delegation at the Willard Hotel, where they went through a magnetometer security screening before boarding vans to the White House. It's unclear if Allen was ever asked to show identification.

Upon approaching the White House gate, Secret Service personnel then waved through the delegation's van, assuming everyone inside had been cleared and screened to attend. SOURCE: ABC News

The Man Behind the Velvet Rope

So who is 39-year-old Carlos Allen, anyway? Well, don't call him "a party promoter," as the Washington Post did. He is an online magazine publisher and entrepreneur who throws parties in conjunction with the magazine, according to Bolden. Many of his events take place at a town house called Hush Galleria (Hush stand for Help Us Support Humanity) in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

I've never been to Hush Galleria, but I spoke with someone who attended a Halloween party there last year. He said the town house was nice, if nothing spectacular. The party itself attracted a good crowd and was sufficiently swank enough to suit his tastes.

However, at least one Mt. Pleasant denizen is not loving Allen's Hush Galleria. In a scathing screed on Huffington Post, Josh Sugarmann described its interior as "tacky" and called Allen "the annoying guy down the street...who used his property as a 'private club' and operated the house as a de facto event hall that could be rented for parties and other 'events.'" Sniffed Sugarmann:

Allen's parties flooded the neighborhood with cars, limos, puzzled party attendees who didn't really seem to understand what they were doing in Mount Pleasant, and the required bouncer at the door (who practiced his 'security glare' at annoyed passers-by on their way home or to Mount Pleasant Street for a beer at the Raven). SOURCE: Huffington Post

Well, it appears that Allen has joined the ranks of people (could there be more out there?) who have figured out how to get beyond the "security glare" of the Secret Service and the barrier of the ultimate velvet rope: the doors to the White House.

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Sheryl Huggins Salomon is contributing editor of Black Voices, where she writes about politics and society. She is co-editor of the 'Nia Guide for Black Women' series of self-improvement books and the former publisher of Shade magazine. Follow her on Twitter or contact her at BVCEditor@aol.com.