Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. , said U. S. Secret Service (USSS) whistleblowers told him the site’s top security agent at fault at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pa. , where former President Donald was shot Trump had a reputation for incompetence. and he failed to put protection protocols in place.
“A whistleblower with direct knowledge of the situation claims at my workplace that this high-ranking agent on site, known in campaign circles, lacks competence and enjoys this role,” Hawley wrote in a letter Monday to acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe.
“This express allegation follows similar public reports that this worker was “new” to the local workplace and had “relatively little experience. ” “The whistleblower alleges that this individual site securing group, in particular, is to blame for the line-of-sight issues,” Hawley continued, referring to the inability of one of the elite countersniper groups to clearly see the roof where they were standing. The 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot Trump.
Hawley added that he found it “particularly alarming” that the unnamed agent was still “operational” in the field, a fact he described as “increasingly inexplicable. “
“I urge you to suspend the site’s lead agent from all Secret Service duties while those allegations are investigated,” Hawley wrote.
In an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday night, Hawley revealed that the site’s lead agent in question is a woman.
Hawley also said the complainant told her that the venue’s lead agent “personally made decisions that most likely compromised the overall safety of the event,” such as allowing flags to be placed where they were. It can simply invade the line of sight of scanning agents. by threats.
The whistleblower also alleged that the USSS “failed to determine the identity when issuing credentials authorizing limited spaces at the site” of Butler, and that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents told crusade officials that they had never previously attended a manifestation.
Hawley has been at the forefront of lawmakers’ tough responses from USSS leadership on security and communications that allowed Crooks to climb onto a roof, shoot Trump, kill Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old protester, and seriously wound two others.
In an earlier letter he sent to Rowe last week, on Aug. 1, Hawley said he told him through a source within the USSS that the rally site in Butler had not been subject to the same old risk assessment protocol and that the Secret Counter-Surveillance Division (CSD) did not even show up at the site on July 13.
“This is important because the CSD’s tasks are to assess potential security threats outside the security perimeter and mitigate threats during the event,” Hawley wrote. “The complainant claims that if CSD personnel had been present at the demonstration, the shooter would have been handcuffed in the parking lot after being detected with a rangefinder. “
Hawley’s additional source claimed Rowe was personally guilty of ordering cuts to CDS and cutting its workforce by up to 20 percent.
On July 30, Rowe joined FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate in testifying at a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees related to the assassination attempt, in which Hawley and Rowe had a heated exchange about what the senator called a lack of accountability. Training
Echoing his most recent letter, Hawley then asked Rowe the identity of the lead officer who had called to report leaving the roof unattended and why the individual had been fired.
Noting the ongoing nature of the investigation, Rowe expressed a reluctance to “hastily judge who fails,” which he said could lead to other people being “unfairly persecuted. “
“Wrongfully persecuted? People died!” Hawley said as the two yelled at each other.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news to jon. brown@christianpost. com
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