Background and career
Tareq Dirgham Salahi is an American man who became known for attending a White House state dinner as an uninvited guest in 2009. Salahi has appeared in two reality-television shows: Where the Elite Meet, and NBC Universal/Bravo's The Real Housewives of D.C.
Salahi's father, Dirgham Salahi, was a Palestinian immigrant who came to the United States from Jerusalem, and he was likely a refugee of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. His mother, Corinne, is from Belgium. Dirgham was educated as a petroleum geologist and worked in the Middle East and U.S. He retired and settled in Virginia, where he became owner of an estate farm, which he subsequently turned into one of the first Virginia Farm Wineries. Corinne Salahi is the founder and director of the Montessori School of Alexandria, Virginia. Salahi attended primary school at Ascension Academy in Alexandria and high school at the Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal, Virginia where he graduated in 1987. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in oenology and business management.
In 1977, Salahi's father Dirgham planted Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines at Oasis Vineyard, establishing the fifth winery in Virginia. Salahi's 1999 champagne was named in the "Top 10 Best Champagne and Sparkling Wines in the World" by Wine Enthusiast magazine. According to court papers, Salahi also began operating a new business on the same premises as his father's Oasis Vineyard, called Oasis Enterprises. Oasis Enterprises included a wine tourism operation, wine country tours, and an events-and-catering business. A dispute arose between Salahi and his family regarding business matters between Oasis Vineyard and Oasis Enterprises. A lawsuit was filed in which the ill mother of the Salahi family alleged, according to court filings, that assets were misdirected to Oasis Enterprises from the winery to support tourism initiatives. Salahi fought the charges and made counter allegations against his parents and their lawyer. He began to seek investors to buy the property from his parents, but no deal was ever reached. The winery temporarily ceased operations, and the lawsuit was dropped without resolution. Oasis Vineyard filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008, with its winery assets auctioned in late 2011. Oasis Enterprises filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Dirgham Salahi died on October 6, 2010, and Tareq issued a statement that read "In recent days, we have come together as a family." In mid-2011, Salahi's wife, Michaele Salahi, was sued by two different parties for fraudulently taking payment for wine tours that were never delivered. On April 23, 2012, the Attorney General of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli II, filed suit against Salahi's wife Michaele for violating the Virginia Consumer Protection Act for failing to conduct tours that were purchased, failing to provide refunds for canceled tours and other companies as official partners that had relationship with her business. Soon afterwards, Tareq announced that he would run against Cucinelli in the 2013 election for Governor of Virginia. In May 2013, the land and buildings of the former Oasis Winery was sold at auction for $1.1 million in order to satisfy creditors, marking the end of the Salahi family involvement with Oasis Winery. Salahi's mother Corinne was the sole beneficial owner of the property at the time of sale. In May 2016, the website vinoshipper.com started selling two wines with the label "The Real Housewinos", a reference to Salahi's appearance on The Real Housewives of D.C. Tareq Salahi managed to retain the trademark for Oasis Wines and is currently distributing wine under the Oasis Wines and Celebration Wines names. He is also a travel agent operating charters as Hotels at Sea and Resorts at Sea.
Salahi sat on the board of the American Task Force. an organization that worked closely with the heads of state from the United States, Jordan, Israel & Palestine dedicated to the peaceful two state solution between Israel & Palestine (see: United Nations Security Council Resolution 242). In 2002, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society named him National Man of the Year, due to him raising $120,000 for the charity. Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore appointed Salahi in 2000 to a three-year term on the Virginia Wine Board. At the conclusion of that term, Virginia Governor Mark Warner nominated Salahi as chairman of the Virginia Wine Tourism Office. Salahi was one of 15 board members of the Virginia Tourism Corporation, a "board that shapes Virginia's tourism policy", appointed by Gov. Tim Kaine in 2006. Kaine told MSNBC:
Tareq had served on the state's wine board under both Gov. Gilmore and Gov. Warner, and when his term on the wine board finished, he and the tourism board wanted him on that board because he's a great promoter—you won't be surprised to hear me say that. During his time in office the Virginia Wineway, Loudoun Wine Trail, Blue Ridge Wineway and Virginia Wineries Alliance were created, attracting, according to a USDA study, 980,000 wine tourists to the state, of which 336,000 visited Piedmont wineries. After the White House security breach incident in 2009, Virginia Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment wrote a letter to Gov. Kaine asking for Salahi's removal from the board: "Mr. Salahi's recent outrageous behavior and personal promotion in regards to trespassing in the White House is not the face we need for Virginia tourism...I would appreciate you taking swift action to avoid any further negative situations." Salahi resigned from the Virginia Tourism Board on December 7, 2009.
Salahi took up polo at 16. He was a regular competitor on the U.S. National Team and his Oasis squad won two U.S. Polo Association National Arena Titles in 1997 and 1998. Salahi was involved with sponsoring the Courage Cup in 2006, a polo charity event to raise funds for urban youth to experience equestrian activities. That year, he captained the United States Polo Team against Charles, Prince of Wales. A dispute over control, vendor payment, and use of proceeds from the Courage Cup reportedly led the Salahis to found the America's Polo Cup in 2007. Allegations of misuse of proceeds from the new charitable event arose, and in December 2009 the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services opened an investigation into the annual event. The 2010 America's Polo Cup match took place on June 12 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with teams announced as United States and India. The advertised ticket price for the event was $95 per person. The event had an attendance of about 250 people, with food from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and PF Chang's China Bistro. Reports of the event stated that the players who represented India were actually of Pakistani origin and were from Florida. A spokesman for the Embassy of India stated that neither the Embassy nor the government of India had any association with the event. The event's website and the US team's uniforms identified an Indian company, Kingfisher Beer, as a sponsor. A spokesperson for Kingfisher denied that the company had sponsored the event. Yashpal Singh, the president and chief executive of Mendocino Brewing Company, Kingfisher's parent company, stated,
