Secret Service: McCain Is Not Protected
Apr 4, 12:14 AM (ET)
WA****NGTON (AP) - Sen. John McCain travels the campaign trail without
Secret
Service protection although he is the Republican Party's likely
presidential
nominee, the agency's director told Congress on Thursday.
Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told a House Appropriations
subcommittee that the Arizona senator has not requested his agency's
services.
"Statutorily, he is not required to take protection," Sullivan said when
asked about McCain's security during a hearing on the agency's budget. "As
far as an actual request, we have not gotten one. We have no involvement
at
this point."
A request from McCain seems unlikely anytime soon, however.
The two-time presidential candidate has said he does not want Secret
Service
protection, fearing it would interfere with his brand of intimate
campaigning among voters. McCain also has said he'll try to last as long
as
he can without it.
"I've never done it. After we won New Hamp****re in 2000, they really tried
to get us, but we said no," McCain said last November while campaigning in
Concord, N.H. "It's an invasion of your ability to have contact with
voters."
That contrasts with his Democratic rivals.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton travels with Secret Service agents due to her
status as a former first lady, and Sen. Barack Obama requested and began
receiving protection last year.
Federal law allows candidates to seek protection if they meet a series of
standards, including public prominence as measured by polls and
fundraising.
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