RFK Jr. Again Denied Secret Service Protection, Threatens Legal Action

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Newsweek

Published Apr 10, 2024 at 5:03 PM EDT | Updated Apr 10, 2024 at 5:09 PM EDT


Homeland Security Director Alejandro Mayorkas has for the fifth time denied Secret Service protection for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., according to a letter dated March 28 that was reviewed by Newsweek.

The latest in the string of denials appears to have initiated a threat of legal action from attorney Aaron Siri of the law firm Siri Glimstad, obtained by the Kennedy campaign.

In the letter, which Kennedy posted to X, formerly Twitter, Siri says he will attempt to hold Mayorkas personally responsible should Kennedy or a bystander be injured as a result of a lack of Secret Service protection. The letter also claims that Mayorkas is refusing to disclose the names of the individuals that the Secret Service has already determined pose a threat to Kennedy.

"If protection is not afforded, we have been authorized to commence an action on the grounds that the repeated denials have been politically motivated and are otherwise capricious," reads the letter to Mayorkas from Siri, dated one day after Mayorkas' latest denial.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/rfk-jr-again-denied-secret-service-protection-threatens-legal-action-1889108

[LiberalFighter]

1. Pretty much nobody pays attention to where he is campaigning or speaking.

[Conjuay]

14. With 3 or 4 Secret Service personnel

His audiences would be twice as large

[C Moon]

19. LOL!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Who cares what Bob wants?

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Thanks to you

I have been calling him "Bob" (with the quotes ).

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Thank you

I may add the quotes to my posts

[LetMyPeopleVote]

42. I like the term "KINO"-Kennedy in Name Only

Link to tweet

[AllaN01Bear]

55. pass interferance .

[DemocraticPatriot]

63. Heh! That's good...

"Kennedy in name only"

So is that MAGAt GQP Senator from Louisiana, "John Kennedy".... (no relation)
(although he probably got elected only because of his name...)

[dalton99a]

10. Useful idiot.

[mucifer]

29. he should ask putin to pay for his security

[Omnipresent]

31. Is he even the real "Bob"?

How do we know it’s not John Elway, running around impersonating Bob?

[oasis]

45. Bob embraces 2 Trump pardonees.

This should be a poster.

[MontanaMama]

53. Bob looks like he's drugged

in that last photo. Sheesh.

[Wonder Why]

5. Bob who?

[ret5hd]

8. is "bob" a verb or a noun?

[LudwigPastorius]

17. If only he and Trump were on the same ticket.

Bob & Weave 2024

[twodogsbarking]

26. Depends on whether he is swimming or dead.

[coprolite]

56. Yes. What do you call your little brother

with no arms and no legs and you leave in the swimming pool?

Bob.

[DemocraticPatriot]

64. That was always such a horrible joke....

since you posted it, I don't have to leave the higher ground...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

"Bob"

[erronis]

6. That last photo says it all.

He's part of Stone's operations. Add in disgraced Flynn and some other broad and we know how they go. Where's Stein?

[obamanut2012]

35. Please do not use gendered slurs -- why do you think "bimbo" is okay?

Come on.

[erronis]

48. I need to apologize also since I used the term "broad".

But you did not alert on that.
I do agree with you that all of these terms (bimbo, broad) are offensive and we should try to keep our board as clean as possible.

But at the same time many of us feel free to call men "dicks" or other terms.

Once we clean up our language to pre-Shakespeare times, then we'll need to go back to Beowulf and Chaucer. Everyone uses snide comments to convey information.

Otherwise, we'll all be "gentlemen and ladies" or "they/them"

[DemocraticPatriot]

65. Was that a reference to Bob's running mate ?

Removed before I was reading this thread....

[calimary]

21. WTF is he doing posing for photos with that scheming schmuck Roger Stone?

An old adage about lying down with dogs and getting up with fleas comes to mind.

[oasis]

47. And traitor Michael Flynn.

This should be a poster.

[calimary]

54. Birds of a feather, I guess.

[oasis]

46. Stone and Flynn pardoned

by Trump for acts against USA.
This should be on a billboard.

[ClickClack]

7. "Capricious"?!? You're soaking in it! (eom)

[twodogsbarking]

9. The Secret Service has to put up with the orange raving lunatic. Give them a break.

[quakerboy]

24. Maybe they could team up

Bob can be the opener for Trump. That way Bob can benefit from being SS adjacent, and use his campaign donations to more directly benefit their intended beneficiary.

[twodogsbarking]

25. Strait-jacket for two.

[erronis]

49. I'm sure trump gives his SS boys the leftover buggers.

They must love those!

[lastlib]

11. "Bob" it is---

"Bob" the "SoB"

From the last pic, he is CLEARLY and unambiguously aligned with the Party of Traitors.

His father must be turning over in his grave, God rest his soul.

[groundloop]

13. Nothing but a feeble attempt at pretending to have legitimacy.

Go Away!!!!!!

[turbinetree]

15. Don't tell Bob that his uncle was a hero in the Navy........and even wrote a book about called Profiles in Courage

[dlk]

16. When you're special...

n/t

[LudwigPastorius]

18. Sorry, Bob, but you've got to poll at least 20% for 30 days to get SS protection.

...and, that ain't ever gonna happen.

[calimary]

20. Well isn't he Mr. Entitled So-&-So.

[cstanleytech]

22. Not every Tom, Dick and Harry gets protection details.

[mahina]

23. Bob

Bob Kennedy

Bob

RFK was my hero
I have a photograph of him on my wall next to my Mom and Dad

Bob can kiss my ass

[no_hypocrisy]

27. O-kayyyyyyyyyy . . . . .

On one hand, Jr. wants Secret Service protection during his "campaign". Maybe it's justified b/c he's had two relatives shot and killed for either being in office or running a campaign and the name Kennedy is an invitation.

On the other hand, he supports the Second Amendment. IOW, "Shoot at me. I have Secret Service."

[rampartc]

28. people threatening the guy need to be picked up

be interesting to know who they are (or who they claim to be)

as for the secret service protection, if kennedy qualifies by law he should have a detail.

if not, and biden assigned a detail anyway, well, i'm sure gym jordan would be rolling up his sleeves and dictating subpoenae.

[bucolic_frolic]

30. Can't Legitimize a non-serious candidate with glitter

[marble falls]

32. Maybe he just needs to step out of the line of fire.

[Doc Sportello]

33. Forbes says he is worth $15M

Not incredibly wealthy but certainly enough to pay for a small security detail for a few months. That's if he is that concerned about his safety. Or this is just another ploy.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2023/08/16/heres-how-much-robert-f-kennedy-jr-is-worth/?sh=7f912d944eff

[Ray Bruns]

34. He needs to get one of those billionaires whose funding this whole campaign to provide security.

[erronis]

37. Wouldn't that look strange with a bunch of russian thugs guarding him?

[Ray Bruns]

44. Ha!

https://m.

[oasis]

50. Love it.

[Oopsie Daisy]

36. Good! Let that be a wake-up call for him and his campaign and supporters!

[SouthernDem4ever]

38. What does he need protection from?

No one cares about him.

[DemocraticPatriot]

66. Kennedy WHO ???

"I knew a guy named Robert F. Kennedy.....
and YOU are NO Robert F. Kennedy----

Junior!"

[JI7]

39. Why doesn't he pay for it himself ?

[SpankMe]

40. They should give it to him

He's a Kennedy. If some demented asshole bumps him off, the conspiracy theorists will move to light speed and really fuck things up in this country. Even if we here don't believe he deserves it, it would be a wise thing to do for longer term stability.

[republianmushroom]

41. His daddy wouldn't attend one of his rallies or vote for him.

[Vinca]

43. He's not a major candidate, has barely qualified for the ballot where he's gotten on, and

he's an heir to a fortune. Hire your own security.

[onecaliberal]

51. Hire your own security, I'm not fucking paying for a murdering lying bastard to lie to people.

[malthaussen]

52. You get yours when I get mine, loser.

Just because you're pretending to run for President doesn't mean that anybody has to take you seriously. Clown.

-- Mal

[TheRickles]

57. A Reuters poll in March showed RFK Jr. at 16%. That's a pretty significant slice of the pie.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-has-marginal-1-point-lead-over-trump-reutersipsos-poll-shows-2024-03-14/

Why doesn't that entitle him to protection? What's the threshold to qualify for protection, whether or not you agree with his policies?

[BumRushDaShow]

58. Like most of the rest of the polls 8 months before the election

it's probably bullshit.

The criteria for possible protection is here - https://www.secretservice.gov/protection/leaders/campaign-2024

Apparently the "polling" criteria is not based on 1 poll but on some aggregate average of them - they list RCP as an example.

[TheRickles]

59. Good link, thanks. So 3rd party candidates need to reach 20% in the national polling average for one month.

He might actually not be far off, but his full stats aren't always being presented in the media reports, so it's hard to tell. His own website cites polls with even higher % among young voters and independents. Maybe those polls are BS, but they're what the security decisions are based on, and it would certainly not be a good look for the USA if yet another Kennedy was targeted. The Secretary of Homeland Security has "broad discretion" about this decision, so what would be the downside of erring on the side of caution and protecting him?

[BumRushDaShow]

61. The one who continues to get 10 - 20% of the actual vote is Nikki Haley

and she is on the GOP side and is not even running anymore. But if she was, that would be closer to how one would probably need to perform to justify SS protection.

"Bob" has not even been able to get on the ballots of all 50 states and we have had 39 states that have already held a primary (I mailed my PA no-excuse absentee primary ballot last week - ours is April 23).

[struggle4progress]

60. ... Which candidates for President does the Secret Service protect?

In regard to presidential campaign, the Secret Service is authorized by law (18 United States Code § 3056) to protect:

Major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election. As defined in statute, 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.
The Secret Service provides protection for major candidates, unless declined.

The Secret Service has no role in determining who is to be considered a major candidate. The Secretary of the Homeland Security determines who qualifies as a major candidate and when such protection should commence under the authority of Title 18, United States Code, Section 3056. This determination is made in consultation with an advisory committee comprised of the following individuals:

Speaker of the House
House Minority Whip
Senate Majority Leader
Senate Minority Leader
One additional member chosen by the committee ...

https://www.secretservice.gov/about/faq/general#:~:text=Which%20candidates%20for%20President%20does,of%20a%20general%20presidential%20election.

[TheRickles]

62. Yes, and apparently Mayorkas has broad discretion to make a decision on his own. But it looks like he won't OK it.