(USNewsMag.com) – Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is demanding Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas explain why President Joe Biden and his administration have rejected a request for Secret Service protection for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as he campaigns for the White House.
The US Department of Homeland Security determined in July that after 88 days without a response, Kennedy was “not warranted at this time” to receive protection from the Secret Service while on the campaign trail. Such requests typically take about two weeks. The government watchdog organization Judicial Watch was able to obtain internal documents from the Secret Service documenting the determination.
In a letter from Cruz to Mayorkas last Tuesday, he said that the records indicate “the Secret Service is aware” that Kennedy “received increased media attention” after the presidential candidate accused the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of having a hand in his uncle’s assassination and called for the release of all documents related to JFK’s slaying and to “speak out against” the vaccine mandates after the 2020 pandemic.
Cruz demanded answers from Mayorkas about why it took so long for Kennedy’s request to be processed and responded to and questioned on what grounds Kennedy was denied Secret Service protection. He also asked what information Kennedy would have to provide to justify such protection other than the threats he has been facing ever since Kennedy announced his candidacy.
In a July Twitter post, Kennedy noted that since his father was assassinated in 1968, major presidential candidates “are provided Secret Service protection,” except for himself.
Understandably, it raises some eyebrows when one thinks about it: the son of Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, assassinated while running for president a few years after his brother was assassinated as the sitting president, isn’t getting Secret Service protection while other major candidates are.
In a historic move earlier this month, Kennedy relaunched his campaign as an independent at a rally in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center. He also officially walked away from the Democratic Party, in which his family has been well-established for over 100 years.
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