Claim of Clinton speeding prompts warning to public

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Public Safety says it is aware of a video that purports to show Hillary Clinton's motorcade traveling 95 mph on an Iowa highway.

A journalist for the tabloid The Daily Mail wrote a story about Clinton's motorcade that includes video showing a speedometer at 95 mph as the vehicle was catching up to the campaign's vehicles. However, it's not clear from the video exactly how fast the vehicles were traveling in the campaign motorcade. The video was reportedly filmed Monday between Mason City and Waterloo.

Iowa Department of Public Safety spokesman Alex Murphy said Tuesday the video creates concern for public safety because the individual taking the video was traveling at a noticeably high rate of speed, far over the posted speed limit, which raises concerns and puts the safety of the motorcade, dignitary and all motorists in jeopardy.

Lily Adams, a Clinton campaign spokeswoman, said Tuesday the report is "absolutely not true" and the former First Lady's motorcade was not traveling through Iowa at 95 mph.

Murphy said the Iowa Department of Public Safety's greatest concern about the video is the sudden acceleration of an unknown vehicle, speeding toward a clearly marked motorcade, which can be an indication of immediate danger to a protected person.

"Law enforcement provides security to many people, and can take the appropriate factors into account. Law enforcement officers are professionally trained drivers and must make split-second decisions that take into account the risk to the protected person and the risk to the public," Murphy said.

Murphy added that any non-law enforcement driver who rapidly approaches a motorcade raises safety concerns and the motorcade drivers can and should respond to that potential threat.

"Amateur video that shows such behavior — which itself demonstrates a violation of the law by presumably untrained individuals — does not negate the fact that law enforcement takes action based on public safety and protection of the people who have been identified as potential targets," Murphy said. "These types of dangerous driving behavior by amateurs may well result in law enforcement action. The designation of an individual as a protected person is taken seriously in Iowa."

A Daily Mail spokesman issued a statement Tuesday which said, "The facts in the story speak for themselves – there is no doubt that the motorcade was traveling at speeds of up to 95 mph."

A spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, which provides security for Clinton, didn't have an immediate comment.

The Daily Mail story said the speeding occurred as Clinton's motorcade traveled Monday to a Waterloo event with five escort vehicles accompanying the Democratic candidate's maroon "Scooby" minivan.