Secret Service agents detailed to Donald Trump's rally in Butler, PA last month were specifically told by headquarters in Washington not to request any additional security for the outdoor rally where a sniper wounded the former president, and that if they made any request, it would be denied.
A whistleblower reported the new information to Missouri Senator Josh Hawley who wrote to acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, asking him to explain the "apparent contradiction" from Rowe's Senate testimony. Rowe told the Senate Judiciary Committee last month that no resources were ever denied.
“You must explain this apparent contradiction immediately,” the senator wrote.
The Secret Service has been backpedaling from Day One after the assassination attempt, looking to downplay the plain fact that they didn't have enough manpower for an outdoor event with buildings within firing distance of their protectee that weren't covered adequately.
Hawley's letter shows that the rabbit hole is deeper than almost anyone thought and if they keep digging, what else are they going to find?
The whistleblower claimed that the officials at Secret Service headquarters told agents in charge of the Butler campaign event to forgo asking for any additional security via a formal manpower request — which are typically made by lead advance agents ahead of trips and submitted to the local field office, in this case, Pittsburgh.
The request, which includes the number of personnel and other security assets, is submitted to the Secret Service’s Office of Protective Operations – Manpower for final review.
By allegedly informing agents not to ask for extra security in the formal request, the Secret Service was “effectively denying these assets through informal means,” Hawley (R-Mo.) claimed in the letter to Rowe.
“The manpower request did not include extra security resources because agents on the ground were told not to ask for them in the first place,” Hawley said.
The additional resources requested included "counter-sniper teams — which were ultimately approved a day before the event," which security experts say didn't give the CSDs enough time to scout the grounds — "and counter-surveillance division [CSD] personnel, who were not at the rally," according to the Post.
“Personnel from CSD would have handcuffed the gunman in the parking lot after he was spotted with a rangefinder, but they were not present on the day,” Hawley said.
Could the Secret Service have been this complacent about a target like Donald Trump?
The lead agent in Trump's detail submitted a manpower request to the U.S. Secret Service Office of Protective Operations (OPO-Manpower) for final approval,
“According to the allegations, officials within this office, preemptively informed the Pittsburgh Field Office that the Butler rally was not going to receive additional security resources because Trump is a former president and not the incumbent president or vice president,” Hawley states in the letter.
“You stated in an August 2 press conference that CSD personnel support former presidents‘ details ‘when requested.’ But these new allegations suggest that CSD personnel, counter-sniper teams, and other critical security assets were not included in the manpower request for the Butler trip because Secret Service officials told the requesting agents that they would be denied.”
“If you’re talking about Butler, Penn., all assets requested were approved.” Rowe has claimed that he has been “very transparent and forthcoming” with Congress.
If so, why do we keep getting information that contradicts your agency's story of what happened that day?
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