The Secret Service has admitted that it declined several requests from Donald Trump’s campaign for heightened security at his events in the years leading up to the recent assassination attempt on him at a rally.
Reversal and Congressional Hearing
Initially, following the July 13 attack, the agency had denied that it had rejected any such requests. However, nearly a week after the attempt on Trump’s life, the Secret Service acknowledged on Saturday that it had indeed turned down certain requests to bolster security around the former president.
This reversal is expected to be a focal point during a congressional hearing scheduled for Monday, where Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is slated to testify. Lawmakers have expressed frustration over security failures that allowed a 20-year-old gunman to climb onto a nearby building’s roof at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and open fire.
During the incident, Trump sustained a wound to his right ear, one attendee was killed, and two others were injured. The shooter was fatally shot by Secret Service personnel.
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“The Secret Service has a vast, dynamic, and intricate mission. Every day we work in a dynamic threat environment to ensure our protectees are safe and secure across multiple events, travel, and other challenging environments,” the agency’s chief spokesperson, Anthony Guglielmi, said in a statement released late Saturday to The Washington Post. The newspaper broke the story on the agency’s about-face, attributing it to thorough inquiries submitted to the Secret Service.
“We execute a comprehensive and layered strategy to balance personnel, technology, and specialized operational needs,” Guglielmi said.
He indicated that the agency would depend on state and local law enforcement departments in instances where specialized Secret Service units are not available.
“In some instances where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protectee,” Gugliemi said. “This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protectee.”
Following the assassination attempt, when reports surfaced alleging that the agency had rejected the Trump campaign’s requests, Guglielmi issued a denial. There is “an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed,” Gugliemi said in a social media post. “This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has labeled the incident a “failure,” prompting several lawmakers to demand that Cheatle resign or be dismissed. Despite this pressure, the Secret Service has stated that Cheatle has no plans to resign, and she continues to enjoy the backing of Democratic President Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas.
Renewed Criticism and Demands for Resignation
However, the agency’s admission that it had turned down certain requests from the campaign triggered renewed criticism on Sunday.Johnson announced that lawmakers on Monday would unveil specifics regarding a bipartisan congressional task force tasked with investigating the Secret Service.
In response to the developments, Eric Trump asserted that Cheatle should resign, describing her actions as “absolute disgrace.”
“The fact that she is still in her job is beyond,” he said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,”
Biden Orders Independent Investigation
Biden, currently campaigning to prevent Trump from securing a second term in the White House, has initiated an independent investigation. Concurrently, the Homeland Security Department and congressional committees are conducting their own inquiries.
Trump stated he received no prior indication from law enforcement that they had identified a suspicious individual when he appeared on stage in Pennsylvania. Some attendees interviewed after the attempted assassination claimed they had spotted the gunman on the roof before Trump appeared on stage and had alerted on-site law enforcement.
In an interview with Fox News host Jesse Waters scheduled to air Monday, Trump stated, “No, nobody mentioned it, nobody said there was a problem” before he took the stage and a gunman opened fire. “They could’ve said, ‘Let’s wait for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 5 minutes, something.’ Nobody said. I think that was a mistake.”
Trump also raised concerns about the security lapses and how the gunman managed to access the roof of the building. “How did somebody get on that roof? And why wasn’t he reported? Because people saw that he was on the roof,” Trump said. “So you would’ve thought someone would’ve done something about it.”
Local law enforcement officers had observed the man and judged him suspicious enough to circulate his photo, while witnesses reported seeing him scaling the building. Requests for comment sent via email to Trump’s campaign and the White House were not immediately answered.
