I haven’t seen this picked up anywhere yet, but it’s kind of amazing.
In preparation for a fund-raiser on Friday, the Republican National Committee sent personal information about donors – including their race – to the Secret Service and, accidentally, to a New York Sun reporter.
Two of the people on the list had their race listed as “Muslim.” One other person was listed as “Asian” and the rest — shockingly — were Caucasian.
The RNC said that it was a mistake for them to have listed “Muslim” as a race, but said that in trying to provide racial information about the donors, they were only following directions from the Secret Service.
A Secret Service spokesperson had this explanation:
Until a year ago, the Secret Service did require race as part of its standard background check for guests at events involving the president. Following complaints, including one from the White House press corps, the practice ended. But the Secret Service requested racial information for Friday’s luncheon, a spokesman for the agency, Eric Zahren, said.
— Azi Paybarah
