Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday, demanding answers about the attempted assassination of President Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday.
Senator Hawley said whistleblowers have informed him that most of the security officials working at the rally were not Secret Service personnel but members of the Homeland Security Investigations team.
Government officials also treated the attempted assassination as a “loose” security event, neglecting to use canines at entry points to detect threats.
The Daily Wire reported:
Hawley shared a letter he was sending to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, demanding answers for a series of apparent lapses in security that ultimately allowed a gunman to attain access to an elevated position less than 200 yards from the rally stage where Trump was speaking. Secret Service is part of DHS.
“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,” Hawley said.
“I write to raise concerns brought to me by whistleblowers about your department’s stunning failure to protect former President Trump on July 13, 2024,” Hawley began. “As Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), you are ultimately responsible for your agency and its components, including the U.S. Secret Service (USSS).”
Hawley then cited whistleblowers, whom he said had identified several apparent failures when it came to the security of the Trump rally on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a ‘loose’ security event. 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,” he wrote.
🚨🚨 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
