Arianna and her cast of thousands

There have been few better places to catch a glimpse of A-listers than Monday night’s Huffington Post party at the Newseum. But to go along with the likes of Ron Howard, Ben Affleck, John Cusack and Larry King were plenty of C-listers, D-listers, E-listers and even more folks who appeared to be on no list at all.

Indeed, sources close to the event said it started out as a 1,000-person affair with budget of $600,000, but those numbers more than doubled as the invite list kept expanding.

And to go along with the 2,000-plus bodies inside were hundreds more queuing up in the cold outside, many of whom got hot as they tried to convince the doormen that they were, in fact, on the list. Like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., whose handlers protested to little avail, when his group was not allowed through the velvet rope. “But this is Senator Sanders,” said an aide.

“I’m sorry, sir, if you don’t have a bracelet, I’m going to have to ask you to clear this area so we can let other people through!” came the annoyed response. (A half hour later, however, we spotted Sanders inside, so he must have found a sympathetic ear.)

Inside, guests were treated to performances by will.i.am, Sheryl Crow and Sting, as well as a countdown to midnight led by Arianna Huffington. “It’s New Years Eve, but a billion times better,” she said, adding she’ll throw this party “every time an African-American is inaugurated.”

The live blogging of other celebs was displayed on big screens. Like Val Kilmer, who offered wisdom such as “I am so proud.” He also pointed out that when he’s in Paris, he gets asked about playing Jim Morrison more than any other role, but when he’s pulled over by the police, they want to talk to him about his role in “Heat.”

But our favorite celebrity sighting was none other than Robert DeNiro. After we saw him conclude an interview with D.L. Hughley, we approached the notoriously publicity-shy actor. “No, I’m not talking any more,” he said.

Not even about Obama? How do you like Obama?

“What do you think?” came the reply.

Photo: Jeff Dufour