In a report from February 13 by the Washington Examiner, it was stated that Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary, who faced impeachment by Congress, turned down an immediate plea from candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. for Secret Service Protection. Mayorkas officially declined the request in a letter dated July 21, 2023, without offering an explanation.
Mayorkas, in a correspondence addressed to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, noted that the independent presidential candidate had filed a request to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for Secret Service protection on May 26, 2023. He stated his decision not to designate Kennedy for US Secret Service protection in line with Title 18, US Code, Section 3056(a)(7).
The letter from the Homeland Security secretary was formally incorporated into a subsequent set of documents furnished to the legal oversight organization Judicial Watch. Among the records were 99 pages containing either blank spaces or redactions. Tom Fitton, the group’s president, strongly criticized Mayorkas’ refusal regarding the independent candidate.
Fitton asserted in a statement that it was appalling for the Homeland Security secretary to deny protection for Kennedy and characterized it as scandalous that it required a federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit to uncover this detail.
Mayorkas has not demonstrated complete transparency within his agency, a factor many Republican leaders attribute to the ongoing crisis at the southern border of the country. He faced impeachment, with a final vote tallying 214 to 213, marking him as the first cabinet official in the nation to be impeached since William Belknap in 1876.
The initial set of documents handed over to Judicial Watch unveiled several papers indicating that the US Secret Service evaluated Kennedy’s official plea for security. Within these records, authorities directed that no one within the agency should engage with the independent candidate. Within one of the redacted email pages, a senior US official emphasized the necessity of refraining from any response to him or his security team.
Although Mayorkas faced impeachment in the House, numerous experts anticipate that the Senate will ultimately not secure a conviction against him.
