During the 2000 presidential election, Al-Arian contacted Al Gore's campaign and Bush's campaign to address the use of secret evidence to detain U.S. citizens without charge.[1] Al-Arian met Bush during a campaign stop at the Florida Strawberry Festival to remonstrate against the Clinton administration's use of secret evidence.[41] After presidential debates in which Bush decried the use of secret evidence as a form of racial profiling against Arab-Americans, Al-Arian began campaigning for Bush as the candidate most likely to end discrimination.[5] During the White House briefing that announced Bush as the winner of the election, Al-Arian received a spot in the front row for his voter outreach efforts in Florida.[5] On June 20, 2001, Al-Arian joined 160 Muslim-American activists in a White House briefing with Bush senior adviser Karl Rove.[42] But in a separate White House event on June 28, his son Abdullah – a congressional intern – made national headlines when he was escorted out by Secret Service without explanation.