A $1-million fund-raiser Sikhs were planning to hold in Bakersfield, Calif. on Sunday morning for Senator Clinton's presidential campaign has been abruptly canceled, or at least postponed, people familiar with the event said today.
The invitations said both Mrs. Clinton and President Clinton were to attend, a rare occurrence that signals the large sums that were expected and the political pull of the organizers.
"It was canceled for security reasons," a person behind the $1000-a-plate breakfast, Sharnjit Dhaliwal, told The New York Sun today. She initially would not elaborate on the problem, but said they were hoping to stage the event later.
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A Democratic Party official in Kern County, Calif. said the fund-raiser ran into trouble because the Secret Service would not "clear" one of the organizers of the gathering. "One of the promoters had recently been to India. His hometown is on the Pakistani border and he crossed into Pakistan," the Kern County Democratic Chair, Candi Easter, said.
A spokesman for the Secret Service, James Mackin, said today that the agency's policy is not to comment on scheduling issues involving protectees. The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The vetting of people who chair major fund-raising events is primarily done by the campaign, not the Secret Service. One source who asked not to be named said the decision to scuttle the event was made before the Secret Service became involved.
nysun.com |
