Oasis Winery 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. 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.
Public service 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: 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.
Polo 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. Teams to which Salahi belonged won the National Arena Championship Chairman's Cup and the USPA National Challenge Cup during 2020. A team that Salahi captained won one of the most recognizable polo matches in the world at the Bentley & Stella Artois World Championships in November of that year.
2009 U.S. state dinner security breaches In June 2005, while he was a Senator,
Barack Obama had posed for a photo with the Salahis and the
Black Eyed Peas at the 12th annual
Rock the Vote Awards Dinner at the
National Building Museum. The Salahis also breached the September 26, 2009, dinner for the
Congressional Black Caucus, where the couple posed for photos with Rep.
Chuck Rangel and
Star Jones, then were asked to leave by security. On the December 2, 2009,
Today Show, they claimed they were given tickets to that event by the Gardner Law Group, but caucus spokeswoman Muriel Cooper refuted that claim. "The first the White House security detail knew of their blunder in allowing them into [the November 24, 2009, state dinner] was when the couple posted photographs from the dinner on their Facebook page." Invited guest
Brian Williams, anchor of the
NBC Nightly News, observed the Salahis' SUV being turned away from the East Gate entrance. After that, he saw the Salahis and crew leave their vehicle and walk to the White House. They entered through two security checkpoints; only one of them checked for photo ID. The White House on November 27 released photos of the couple posing with President Obama, Vice President
Joe Biden, Chief of Staff
Rahm Emanuel, and other celebrities in attendance. Representative
Peter T. King, a Republican of New York, wrote a letter to the
United States House Committee on Homeland Security requesting an investigation into this incident.
Journey for the Cure Foundation In 2009, Salahi's then-wife Michaele was listed as the director of the Journey for the Cure Foundation connected to the rock band
Journey. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Office of Consumer Affairs issued a press release that cautioned consumers that "Journey for the Cure Foundation, 14141 Hume Road, Hume, Virginia, has solicited contributions from Virginia citizens for allegedly charitable purposes. However, as of May 13, 2009, this organization had not registered with or been granted the appropriate exempt status by the Commissioner as required by law". On February 28, 2012, the Virginia Attorney General's office announced a settlement with Salahi, where he would pay a fine for the violations. According to the attorney general: The attorney general's office also alleged that the charity filed inaccurate financial statement with state regulators, and solicited in Virginia from 2004 to 2009 without obtaining the proper registration. It also failed to maintain proper fiscal records and failed to provide the state with required financial information when it stopped soliciting contributions there in 2010. Salahi's wife at the time was accused of personally violating the solicitation of contributions law by signing a notice that said the foundation was registered with the Office of Consumer Affairs when it was not, and signing a registration statement that made false claims about the foundation's financial information and history. In the settlement agreement, Salahi agreed to pay on behalf of his wife $2,500 in civil penalties and $7,500 to compensate Virginia for attorney fees, and the Journey for the Cure organization will pay $25,000 in civil penalties.
Reality television appearances Salahi has appeared in two reality TV shows (detailed below), and documentaries have been made about the White House security breach incident. In 2009,
Saturday Night Live performed a parody of the White House security breach incident. The Salahis appeared in 2010 on the reality television show
The Real Housewives of D.C. The couple clashed with other featured cast members, and the conflicts continued after the show aired. The production was not flattering to the Salahis, and included coverage of the White House gate crashing in detail. Critics have noted that the show's producers edited the material in ways that exaggerated the truth.
2013 Virginia gubernatorial election On April 25, 2012, Salahi announced his candidacy as a
Republican for Governor of Virginia in the
2013 Virginia gubernatorial election. The website stated that his platform included: Promoting the Commonwealth of Virginia; Promoting the Military, both our troops and defense workers; Increasing Jobs; Pro-Business; Pro-Tourism; Pro-Agriculture; Less Tax; Kill the Car Tax; Pro Eco-Friendly Energy Production. On January 14, 2013, Salahi announced that he would run for governor of Virginia as an independent. He stated that he had been informed that his refusal in December to sign a pledge of support for all 2013 Republican candidates could disqualify him from the Republican nomination process. He explained that he could not "agree with anything that Cuccinelli believes in." Salahi was also scheduled to have a film document his campaign by Campbell Media Group, but the production company faced legal allegations for targeting and scamming its film subjects. Salahi was one of two declared write-in candidates for Governor, along with John Parmele Jr., a Navy retiree. All write-in candidates received 11,087 votes, 0.49% of the total votes cast.
2014 Congressional election In December 2013, Salahi announced that he was running in the Republican primary for
Virginia's 10th congressional district in the
2014 elections, to succeed
Frank Wolf, the retiring Republican incumbent. However, he withdrew from the 10th's Republican primary and switched to the
Independent Greens in March 2014 to run for
Virginia's 7th congressional district seat currently held by
Eric Cantor. Salahi attempted to collect 1,000 signatures to get on the ballot. In June 2014, Salahi submitted 2,051 signatures to the Virginia State Board of Elections, ==Personal life==