Three Democratic lawmakers say the refusal of the White House and the Secret Service to disclose the identity of the man who booted three Denverites out of one of President Bush’s town-hall meetings smacks of “disinterest or a cover up.”
“The American people have an interest and deserve to know what transpired at the president’s March 21, 2005, event in Denver and if someone impersonated a law-enforcement official,” U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and U.S. Reps. Mark Udall and Diana DeGette wrote in a letter Thursday to Secret Service Director M. Ralph Basham.
The lawmakers criticized the Secret Service and the Bush administration for “unresponsiveness” to requests that they hand over details of an investigation of the incident at Denver’s Wings Over the Rockies museum, where Bush held a public forum plugging Social Security reforms.
Before the event started, three Denverites who arrived in a car with a “No Blood for Oil” bumper sticker were booted from the museum by a man they believed was a Secret Service agent.
The White House has said the man – whom it refuses to name – was a volunteer who rightly kicked out the “Denver Three” to avoid disruption.
Likewise, the Secret Service won’t comment on its investigation or say who booted the three from the event.
