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July 28, 2023

The Biden administration refuses Secret Service protection for RFK Jr.

By Andrea Widburg

Currently, RFK Jr. is the fastest-rising star in the presidential candidate universe, with a tragic family history of assassination. One would think that this would qualify him for U.S. Secret Service protection under 18 U.S.C. § 3056(a)(7), but one would be wrong. According to a tweet from RFK Jr., the Biden administration’s Homeland Security Secretary has said no.

The biggest threat to the Biden administration today is RFK Jr., the son of Robert F. Kennedy (assassinated) and nephew of John F. Kennedy (assassinated). Rather than respecting Biden’s declaration that he’s running, RJK Jr. has looked at that corrupting, rotting bag of bones and thought to himself that he could do better. For those Democrats who haven’t drunk the hard-left Kool-Aid, he’s attractive. With his Ukraine and vaccines, many conservatives like him, too.

Given RFK’s suddenly increased prominence and family history, he applied for Secret Service protection under 18 U.S.C. § 3056. That statute states that you don’t have to be the official presidential candidate following the successful conclusion of your party’s primaries to get that protection. Instead, it states in relevant part:

Image: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (edited). YouTube screen grab.

(a) Under the direction of the Secretary of Homeland Security, the United States Secret Service is authorized to protect the following persons:

[snip]

(7) Major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and, within 120 days of the general Presidential election, the spouses of such candidates. As used in this paragraph, the term “major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates” means those individuals identified as such by the Secretary of Homeland Security after consultation with an advisory committee consisting of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the minority leader of the House of Representatives, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate, and one additional member selected by the other members of the committee. The Committee shall not be subject to chapter 10 of title 5.

In 2020, the Secret Service explained how this statutory system works. To conserve space, I’ve excluded the last three factors, which are irrelevant here:

When determining whether a candidate for the Office of President or Vice President of the United States qualifies as a major candidate, the Secretary has broad discretion and may consider a variety of factors. These factors include, but are not limited to:

1.Whether the candidate has publicly announced his or her candidacy and has filed the appropriate documentation with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and is in compliance with the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended, and related laws;

2.Whether the candidate is actively campaigning on a national basis for the office for which his or her candidacy has been announced, as demonstrated by operating a national campaign apparatus, regularly appearing at public events in multiple states, producing and publishing campaign advertisements, and other similar indicia of a campaign;

3.A threat assessment conducted by the Secret Service of general or specific threats directed towards the candidate. (for these purposes, “threats” should be defined as explicit threats of bodily harm to the candidate or indications of inappropriate behavior towards the candidate suggesting potential bodily harm);

4.Whether, during and within an active and competitive major party primary, the most recent average of established national polls, as reflected by the Real Clear Politics National Average or similar mechanism, the candidate is polling at 15% or more for 30 consecutive days;

Again, remember that these are discretionary factors, not mandates. RFK Jr. clearly meets the first two factors. A glance at the RealClearPolitics polling page shows that Kennedy has been steadily climbing in the national Democrat party polls, with his numbers hovering close to 15%. In other words, he’s definitely a player, which also means he’s a threat to Biden’s current dominance.

As for the threat assessment issue, we cannot know what threats have been made against RFK Jr., if any. What we do know, though, is that we live in times crazy enough for someone to target him simply because he is a Kennedy. His family has a bad track record of political survival.

Given these factors, especially the last one, one would think that Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security, would want to err on the side of caution. Yet that’s not the case:

Comments from the Twitterati (Xerati?) were cynical because people (especially conservatives) felt that (a) a Kennedy is a target and (b) that’s okay with Democrats:

When Trump ran for president, he was a lifelong Democrat who was a recent convert to the Republican party, mostly because he envisioned a return to a 1980s-style America, while hewing to his very moderate social policies, positions that no longer resonated with Democrats. Had Democrats treated him respectfully, he would almost certainly have been a moderate. However, they attacked him with such fury that he was inevitably pushed to the right. Wouldn’t it be interesting if exactly the same thing happens to a Kennedy?

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