Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threatened legal action against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after he was yet again denied Secret Service protection.
For the fifth time, impeached DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas decided that Kennedy’s campaign did not warrant this critical service. The latest rejection came in a letter dated March 28 after the secretary consulted with an advisory committee and members of Congress.
Kennedy attorney Aaron Siri immediately responded with a rebuttal letter, calling the lack of action “capricious, an abuse of discretion and clearly politically motivated.” The response was posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Fox News Asks How Joe Biden Sleeps at Night After Denying RFK Jr. Secret Service Three Times
KENNEDY: “Denying me Secret Service protection. That’s never happened in history.”
FOX NEWS: “Does he know that your dad was assassinated?”
KENNEDY: “He has a bust of my father behind… pic.twitter.com/AGkJzUGYrT
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) April 3, 2024
RFK Jr. noted on the platform that the “scathing letter from my attorneys holds Secretary Mayorkas responsible for consequences of his politically motivated, petty and vindictive denial of Secret Service protection for my campaign.”
Mayorkas and the DHS are accused of brushing off significant risks to the candidate. An alarming incident in which a campaign event attendee was caught carrying two loaded handguns was noted.
Secret Service protection has been extended to presidential and vice-presidential candidates since 1968. It was initiated after the assassination of Kennedy’s father, who was a then-Democratic presidential candidate.
The Washington Times reported that 32 candidates since 1968 were afforded Secret Service protection. Siri’s letter added that many of these individuals faced far less of a threat than Kennedy.
The attorney wrote, “Not only have you ignored the obvious threats to the life of the candidate, you have also ignored the assessment of your own Secret Service.”
The implication is obvious. Kennedy’s candidacy poses a clear risk to Biden’s job — and thus Mayorkas’ as well.
The brutally frank letter to the DHS spelled this out in clear terms. “Your disregard for the safety of Mr. Kennedy and others in his environment is contemptible. Failure to provide him Secret Service protection forthwith lays naked your political motivations and lowers the esteem of our great nation.”
Democrats are terrified of Kennedy’s candidacy. Though few give him a legitimate shot at securing the White House, national polls show him siphoning off a significant percentage of Biden’s remaining support.
The radical left believes this could clear the path to a second Donald Trump administration. This must be avoided, they make clear, at any cost.