Should crimes and punishments be in the mix for Tareq and Michaele Salahi?

My first reaction to the story of Tareq and Michaele Salahi (allegedly?) crashing a White House state dinner was to be thankful they provided something fun to discuss during the holiday weekend.  But, as should be expected, the story has come with a fair share of media buzzing over whether the couple committed federal crimes through their high-society escapade.  Interestingly, this new Huffington Post commentary titled “What To Do About White House Gatecrashers?,” laments the discussion of crime and punishment for the Salahis:

After hearing about Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the brazen pair who crashed the White House State Dinner, I was alternately intrigued and worried, especially the way the media reported it. In particular CNN, where Tom Foreman and Erica Hill, subbing for Anderson Cooper, kept harping at how horrible it was and that national security was clearly at stake.

Please, this is much ado about — not exactly nothing, but not nearly as much as they were screaming about. And I say this as one who adores Erica Hill, in particular her eyebrow raised banter with Anderson Cooper.  But I guess when she’s actually hosting the show, she’s determined at all costs to prove she’s a serious journalist.

Okay, but when she ominously suggests what these folks did might get them into prison, fueled by Bush Homeland Security Advisor Frances Fragos Townsend, who said it was a federal offense to lie to a federal officer, I have to say, enough!…

I think there’s amazement at what the Salahis did, and the Secret Service should take note, but what the Salahis accomplished didn’t make Obama particularly unsafe if the basic protections surrounding the immediate area of the president are in place.

Crashing a party, even at The White House, does not rise to the level of a federal crime, so much as indicate dismay that the officials in charge were not able to keep the riff raff out….

To suggest that the Salahis go to federal prison is nonsense.  They should be thanked for exposing some flaws in the Secret Service System, though the flaws themselves led to no real danger to the president, and isn’t that the real story?

Because the author of this commentary is a screenwriter, my sense is that his view may be influenced by a professional affinity for noteworthy personal dramas.  In turn, I am wondering if readers of this blog, who generally have more of a professional affinity for sound administration of criminal justice systems, have a similar or different take on whether the Salahis ought to be facing some possible criminal charges.