Obama gatecrashers to be subpoenaed?

Washington: A Congressional committee is set to vote to subpoena the Salahis who gatecrashed President Barack Obama's first State Dinner for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, amid reports that the Virginia couple could invoke their right to silence if forced to appear before the panel.

The move comes after Tareq and Michele Salahi refused to testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security last week on the gatecrashing incident and respond to the questions of the lawmakers.

Bennie Thompson, the Chairman of the Committee, had scheduled for today the vote on issuing of subpoena for the Salahis.

"The Salahis chose to forego participation in proceedings with the full knowledge that the committee could compel their testimony through subpoenas," Thompson had said last week.

"My door remains open and I'm hopeful that they will be as willing to talk to Congress as they have been to talk to the media," he had said at the end of the hearing convened to discuss the issue of the couple attending the November 24 event at White House, despite not having any invite.

Meanwhile, media reports said if forced to appear before the Congressional committee, the Salahis would invoke their right to silence.