DHS chief grants Secret Service protection for Trump, Carson
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has authorized Secret Service protection for GOP frontrunners Donald Trump and Ben Carson, CBS News has learned.
Carson's campaign manager, Barry Bennett, said the campaign was informed Thursday that the GOP presidential candidate would receive Secret Service detail "for the duration of his campaign."
"We appreciate the activation of the service and we thank Secretary Jeh Johnson for his timely approval. The campaign, in keeping with its policy on security matters, will have no further comment," Bennett said in a statement.
Trump's and Carson's campaigns requested Secret Service protection in October, and the Department of Homeland Security began reviewing them about three weeks ago.
Johnson has the authority to grant Secret Service protection, but must first consult congressional leaders and one other lawmaker they select.
The requests for protection came after Carson had reportedly received an increasing number of threats against him, though his campaign said the Secret Service and FBI had initiated the process.
Presidential candidates rarely receive Secret Service protection this early in a cycle. In early May 2007, more than a year away from the general election, however, then-Sen. Barack Obama received Secret Service protection on the campaign trail.
During the 2012 presidential race, the Secret Service began gradually ordering protection detail in November 2011 -- a year before the general election -- for GOP candidates Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, a Congressional Research Service report said.
Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton has continued to receive Secret Service protection since she served as first lady.
CBS News' Arden Farhi contributed to this story.
