The politics of lunch and other social occasions. But the FBI is a crime- fighting outfit, and it is not a crime to turn down a White House invitation. Then there is the question of motive.
Attention focuses on what it is that caused individual senators and congressmen to stay away.
Observers were quick to point out that Monday is a busy day for Congressmen, often spent traveling back from weekend work in their home districts. They just couldn't alter their plans on such short notice. But then there were others who were free, or could manage to be free, but chose not to accept the invitation. Social invitations that run up against politics cause potentially embarrassing situations. Two days before the White House's failed lunch, the White House Correspondents had their annual dinner party, a huge affair with several thousand diners.