Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) revealed through a letter to the Department of Homeland Security that whistleblowers have claimed President Trump’s security detail on the day of his attempted killing was mostly composed of inexperienced DHS agents, with several typical protocols for such an event being skipped.
The Missouri senator posted a copy of the letter he sent to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, detailing claims by whistleblowers from inside homeland security.
“Whistleblowers tell me that MOST of Trump’s security detail working the event last Saturday were not even Secret Service,” Hawley wrote on X. “DHS assigned unprepared and inexperienced personnel.”
The letter said that “whistleblowers who have direct knowledge of event” alleged that the July 13, 2024, Trump rally was considered to be a “loose” security event.
‘How long did agents physically spend on the ground surveying the site before the event?’
This apparently meant that “detection canines were not used to monitor entry and detect threats in the usual manner” and that “individuals without proper designations were able to gain access to backstage areas.”
In addition, whistleblowers claimed that “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.”
Shockingly, whistleblowers also said that the former president’s detail was not even made up of mostly Secret Service agents.
“The majority of DHS were not in fact USSS agents but instead drawn from the department’s Homeland Security Investigations,” Hawley wrote.
The letter added that the HSI agents were “unfamiliar with standard protocols typically used at these types of events.”
Hawley finished his letter by asking seven questions to the DHS secretary, starting with how DHS determined it would staff the event.
He also asked what percentage of DHS agents were from HSI rather than typical Secret Service and whether they were properly trained for events such as the rally in question.
The letter also asked if agents were appropriately stationed around Trump’s podium.
Perhaps the most important question by Hawley was asked last:
“How long did agents physically spend on the ground surveying the site before the event?”
Secret Service brass have fallen well short of Americans’ expectations in terms of their explanations for the security failures surrounding the assassination attempt on Trump.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was pictured on video fleeing from questions by Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on Wednesday.
Congressman Hawley also said in his letter that the Senate has actually “learned more from whistleblowers” than from DHS officials.
Secretary Mayorkas’ only public statements in the six days since the shooting of Trump have been regarding border security.
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Trump, Trump assassination attempt, Dhs, Josh hawley, Secret service, Politics
