Trump: I Should Get Secret Service Protection

Wednesday, October 14, 2015 08:22 AM
By: Sandy Fitzgerald

Donald Trump is drawing "by far the biggest crowds" for his appearances, and he wants to know why he isn't being provided with Secret Service protection like President Barack Obama was at this point in his first campaign, suggesting partisan politics are in play.

“I want to put them on notice because they should have a liability,” the GOP frontrunner told The Hill. “Personally, I think if Obama were doing as well as me he would’ve had Secret Service [earlier]. I have by far the biggest crowds.”

Obama, who was still an Illinois senator during the 2008 presidential campaign, received Secret Service protection on May 3, 2007, with law enforcement officials saying that the protection was not granted about any specific threats.

Trump says the Secret Service has not said if or when it will give him protection, telling The Hill that "they're in no rush because I'm a Republican. They don't give a s*it."

However, he said he does not think they want anything to happen, "but I would think they should be very proactive and want protection for somebody like me that has 20,000 people at any time."

A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman said the department has not gotten an official request from the Trump camp, but if one comes, Secret Service agents would only be provided after discussion that includes House and Senate leaders.

There are guidelines, though, before a detail is assigned. Candidates must be active in at least 10 primaries, score high in polls, and have contributions of at least $10 million. But not all candidates will need paid security details, as sitting governors Scott Walker, Chris Christie, John Kasich, and Bobby Jindal already have full-time security teams who are paid from state funds.

In July, Trump added to his private security detail after a Twitter threat from Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who remains at large after his prison escape earlier this year.

http://www.newsmax.com/US/trump-secr.../14/id/696113/

Donald Trump should have Secret Service protection already! And the leftists and socialists are telling blood libel lies designed to stir crazies up to conduct violence against him.

W

Posted By Juliegrace Brufke On 3:16 PM 10/14/2015

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump said if he were a Democrat, he would have Secret Service protection by now.

The outspoken frontrunner, who currently employs his own security detail, said the agency should have some liability due to his popularity.

“They’re in no rush because I’m a Republican. They don’t give a s–t,” the billionaire told The Hill Tuesday. Then-candidate Barack Obama was placed under protection in May 2007 while running for the Democratic nomination.

“Personally, I think if Obama were doing as well as me, he would’ve had Secret Service [earlier]. I have, by far, the biggest crowds,” he said.

Secret Service grants protection once a candidate submits an application to the Department of Homeland Security — which Trump has yet to do — and once it is approved by the DHS secretary and a Congressional advisory committee.

“If a request is received, this authorization is determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security after consultation with a congressional advisory committee which includes the Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, and one additional member selected by the aforementioned committee,” DHS press secretary Marsha Catron said in a statement.

To be considered, the candidate must have officially announced, have some prominence in the polls, be actively campaigning in a minimum of 10 states, be seeking the nomination of qualified party, be able to match at least $100,000 in funds and have at least $10 million in contributions.

The reality-TV star has largely funded his own campaign, having received around $1.9 million in contributions as of October.

“You would think that they would want to be very proactive, but we have not heard from them.” he said.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/14/tr...ce-protection/

Should Bernie Sanders have Secret Service protection?

By Colby Itkowitz September 10

https://img.washingtonpost.com/news/...1904041435.jpg

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) waves as he wades into the crowd at a rally Aug. 8 in downtown Seattle. (Elaine Thompson/AP)

About a month ago, just after protesters from the Black Lives Matter movement shut down a Bernie Sanders rally, a citizens petition appeared on the White House’s “We the People” site, warning that the candidate was vulnerable to “potentially violent confrontations with disturbed people.”

Calling him a “leading Democratic presidential candidate,” the Aug. 12 request compared Sanders to candidate Barack Obama, who was granted early special protection from the Secret Service in 2007 because of increasing threats to his safety.

Sanders’s supporters also referenced (though not by name) his Democratic contender, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has Secret Service detail because she was a former first lady.

“This situation must not be allowed to continue a moment longer,” the petition, signed by just under 10,000 people, (or around the size of a Sanders’ rally give or take), says. “Bernie Sanders must have immediate Secret Service protection, just as the other leading candidate does.”

(Quick aside: Protesters harassing candidates at campaign events is fairly common, and rarely, if ever, leads to violence.

It’s unknown whether there have been any threats made to Sanders or his campaign.)

How White House hopefuls receive taxpayer-funded security is completely subjective. An advisory committee that includes the speaker of the House, House minority whip, Senate majority leader, Senate minority leader and one additional member chosen by the committee decides which presidential candidates should have Secret Service detail and passes the recommendations on to the Homeland Security Department.

It wasn’t until 1968, after Robert Kennedy was assassinated, that protection was expanded to cover “major candidates,” a distinction that has no real definition. Though, according to a 2000 Congressional Research Service report, there are certain guidelines the committee follows like the candidate must be declared (good start), has raised at least $2 million (who hasn’t these days?) and gets at least 5 percent support in national polls (well, that eliminates half of the GOP field).

In 2012, Secret Service agents were detailed to Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and later Newt Gingrich, during the GOP primary. This year, so far, just Clinton has the government-funded protection. Donald Trump pays for his own private body men. So does Jeb Bush.

Dan Emmett, a former Secret Service agent and author of “Within Arm’s Length: A Secret Service Agent’s Definitive Inside Account of Protecting the President,” is opposed to any candidates getting protection.

“If they want to run, it’s also a risk that they take and they have to know ahead of time there are people who could hurt them,” Emmett said in an interview. “With a campaign season like we have now, the Secret Service does not exist for the purpose of protecting everyone that wants to run for the presidency.”

“(Agents) are pulled from field offices around the country … they are running around the country with a group of people, a bunch of which who don’t have a prayer, it’s a waste of resources at a time when (the Secret Service) is strapped of resources,” he added.

Emmett acknowledged that we live in a dangerous world and there is a real threat to candidates, like Sanders, who go into crowds of hundreds or thousands of people unprotected. Still, he thinks Secret Service agents have “more important things to do.”

Emmett also speculated that some candidates like having the Secret Service around more for the perks than the protection.

“The Secret Service is the world’s greatest chauffeur service,” he said. “You know things are going to run like a clock when Secret Service is with you.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...ce-protection/

The U.S. Secret Service provides protection for all "major" presidential and vice presidential candidates commencing 120 days prior to an election unless they specifically decline. An advisory committee determines who is considered a major candidate. I believe the advisory committee is made up from the Homeland Department Secretary and other governmental officials.

https://www.quora.com/At-what-point-...service-detail

Personally, I think at this point, Donald Trump is safer with his own security team. He just needs to hire the best and plenty of them.