There are many troubling aspects about the protection provided to Donald Trump, who is now the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, during last week’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The Secret Service is under intense scrutiny in the face of a comedy of errors suggesting an inexplicable level of incompetence or potentially worse. There’s growing speculation of intentional vulnerabilities in Trump’s protection, although that has yet to be established.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) cited whistleblowers to say in a post on X that “MOST of Trump’s security detail working the event last Saturday were not even Secret Service” and that Homeland Security, which oversees the agency, “assigned unprepared and inexperienced personnel.”
The GOP senator linked to a letter he sent Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers about what “was considered to be a ‘loose’ security event.”
Whistleblowers tell me that MOST of Trump’s security detail working the event last Saturday were not even Secret Service. DHS assigned unprepared and inexperienced personnel pic.twitter.com/eo4jNmJWFT
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 19, 2024
“Whistleblowers who have direct knowledge of the event have approached my office. According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a ‘loose’ security event,” Hawley wrote. “For example, detection canines were not used to monitor entry and detect threats in the usual manner. Individuals without proper designations were able to gain access to backstage areas. Department personnel did not appropriately police the security buffer around the podium and were also not stationed at regular intervals around the event’s security perimeter.”
“In addition, whistleblower allegations suggest the majority of DHS officials were not in fact USSS agents but instead drawn from the department’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI),” he continued. “This is especially concerning given that HSI agents were unfamiliar with standard protocols typically used at these types of events, according to the allegations.”
The letter included the following questions, with Hawley requesting a response within 7 days:
- How did DHS determine to staff the event, including any decision to rely on state or local officers?
- What percentage of the DHS agents at the event were from HSI rather than USSS? Were a majority of officers at the event drawn from HSI or other DHS components, rather than USSS? If so, why?
- Were HSI agents properly trained in staffing these types of events?
- Did gaps exist in the security perimeter, and were the usual protocols followed for the use of canines and magnetometers?
- Were agents not appropriately stationed around the podium?
- Were the standard protocols followed for issuing designated pins to vetted personnel that are allowed backstage?
- How long did agents physically spend on the ground surveying the site before the event? Did any paperwork obligations prevent a longer and more robust site survey?
The Secret Service failed catastrophically in its efforts to protect the former president, who escaped with his life by the grace of God alone after being hit in the right ear by a bullet. Unfortunately, a rallygoer did not. Former firefighter Corey Comperatore died a hero on Saturday, using his body to shield his wife and two daughters. Two others in attendance were critically wounded.
Americans are as skeptical as ever when it comes to the federal government and the political class that controls it, and have good reason to be given the FBI’s scandalous role in the Russian collusion hoax, the intel community going all in to keep Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop from impacting the 2020 election, and the whole COVID-19 pandemic misinformation campaign.
Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, as seen on the social media platform X:
That would explain the one that couldn’t find her a holster, the other one that needed to put on her glasses and the ponytails♀️
— Tired of being politically correct (@USBornNRaised) July 19, 2024
Set up!
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) July 19, 2024
Sounds like a window of opportunity was opened by somebody.
— UnipartyBomber (@magajcs) July 19, 2024
We could easily see the women and some of the men were unprepared.
People should stop criticizing the people who were assigned to do a job, don’t blame them! Blame the DHS instead, it seems.— Riley (@riley1999) July 19, 2024
Standard security detail changed
Security protocols disregarded
Comms lines tangled & confused
Chain of command unclear..we all know what this adds up to.
— MichaelG (@Michael888G) July 19, 2024
If this is true. People must go to prison.
— Cash Loren (@CashLorenShow) July 19, 2024
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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