In a move some decry as an example of a weaponized Department of Justice, Judicial Watch is reporting that U.S. Dept. of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “personally declined” a protection request by DNC presidential challenger, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Requests for Secret Service protection for presidential candidates is not unusual. Confirmation of Mayorkas’ decision to decline Kennedy Jr.’s request resulted from a review of documents secured via Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Judicial Watch reported the DHS failed to respond to their initial FOIA request. Refusal to comply prompted a lawsuit, filed last September, to force compliance.
Judicial Watch prevailed in their Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:23-cv-02846) case, forcing government officials to turn over communications regarding Secret Service protection requests made by presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
🚨REPORT: Mayorkas Personally DENIED RFK Jr.'s Secret Service Request
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas denied Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s request for Secret Service protection during his presidential candidacy, records show
"I decline to identify Candidate Kennedy for… pic.twitter.com/MI4rF9vHfY
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The requested documents revealed that Kennedy Jr. requested Secret Service security support in May 2023. Two months later, Secretary Mayorkas sent a note to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, rejecting the request. The security denial letter read:
“On May 26, 2023, Candidate for President Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. submitted a request to the Department of Homeland Security for United States Secret Service protection. In accordance with the authority set forth in Title 18, United States Code, Section 3056(a)(7), and in consultation with the Candidate Protection Advisory Committee, I decline to identify Candidate Kennedy for United States Secret Service protection at this time.”
Mayorkas has discretion in assigning Secret Service details, but Judicial Watch noted that statute 18 U.S.C. 3056(a)(7) stipulates that “[m]ajor Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates” are eligible for Secret Service protection.
Mayorkas argues that Kennedy Jr. is not identified as a “major presidential … candidate.”
Notably, the policy of assigning Secret Service protection to presidential candidates was instituted after candidate Robert F. Kennedy (the father of candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) was assassinated during a campaign event in California in 1968.
Judicial Watch reported that Kennedy Jr. made multiple requests to the DHS for protection.
An excerpt from Kennedy Jr’s May request to DHS reads:
As [redacted] for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s campaign for President of the United States, I am writing to request United States Secret Service protection for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr from this point forward pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3056(a)(7), which authorizes the Secret Service to provide protection to ‘Major Presidential Candidates.’ Robert F. Kennedy, Jr appears to have met this standard and we ask that you and your Congressional Protection Advisory Committee consider this request. If you authorize the Secret Service to protect Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, he will accept this protection as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made. With respect to your time and process, the campaign commissioned an expert risk assessment in advance of today’s request (attached). If you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Despite Kennedy’s campaign team sending more than 60 pages of support documents and “risk assessment” paperwork, DHS denied his security request. Frustrated, in July, Kennedy’s team contacted the DHS a third time, writing, “I am asking for an immediate response to my request for United States Secret Service protection Mr. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.”
The petition reminded DHS of the Kennedy family history: “You may know that within 24 hours after the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, President Johnson directed the Secret Service to protect presidential candidates,” the request read. “Just days later, the Secret Service became responsible for the safety of five candidates, and by the end of the 1968 campaign, twelve candidates were protected by the USSS. The new responsibility was undertaken to ensure the safety of candidates and others in their vicinity – and to protect the electoral process itself.”
The request letter continued: “Given Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s well-established risk as a presidential candidate, our campaign submitted a written request following the formal process. Our request was received at DHS on June 1, 2023. Presidential candidates traditionally hear back within 14 days; it has been more than 30 days since the formal request.”
Judicial Watch characterized DHS’s treatment of Kennedy Jr. as “despicable. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton wrote: “It is simply despicable that Secretary Mayorkas refused needed Secret Service protection for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”
Fitton added: “That it took a federal FOIA lawsuit to force out this information speaks volumes.”
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