Q: Do all of the current presidential candidates receive Secret Service protection? If not, does Hillary Clinton as a former first lady?
—Frank Manfre, Grayson
A: Four of the presidential candidates – Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Ben Carson — receive Secret Service protection.
Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, in consultation with the Congressional Advisory Committee, decides who receives protection.
Clinton, as a former first lady, receives Secret Service protection for life under the Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012.
Trump and Carson, who are Republican candidates, have received protection since November. They both requested it in October, the Associated Pres reported.
“As prescribed by statute, authorization for Secret Service protection for presidential candidates is determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security after consultation with a congressional advisory committee composed of the Speaker of the House, the House Minority Leader, the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Majority Leader, and an additional member selected by the Committee,” a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman wrote in a statement at the time.
Sanders began receiving protection on Feb. 2.
The Republican candidates picked their codenames from a list provided by the Secret Service, the Washington Post reported.
Trump is called “Mogul” and Carson is “Eli.”
Clinton’s codename is “Evergreen.” Sanders’ codename hadn’t been reported.
“Major candidates and their spouses began receiving protection after the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968,” the Secret Service states on secretservice.gov.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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