Government whistleblowers have informed U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) that former President Donald J. Trump‘s security detail at his July 13 rally, where a would-be assassin made an attempt on his life, was mostly comprised of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel and not United States Secret Service (USSS). In the days following the attempted assassination, the USSS has attempted to blame local police for the lapse in security.
“[W]histleblower allegations suggest the majority of DHS officials were not, in fact, USSS agents but instead drawn from the department’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI),” the Missouri Senator wrote in a letter Friday to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Sen. Hawley 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 National Pulse reported earlier this week that local and state law enforcement in Pennsylvania have slammed USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle‘s narrative that the security lapses were the fault of local police. In fact, the Butler, Pennsylvania, police department claims that the USSS relegated them to directing traffic, and they had no direct role in securing areas outside the USSS security perimeter.
On Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) announced he had issued a subpoena for Cheatle to testify before his committee after he learned that DHS officials had directed her not to speak with the committee.
The revelations that most of the security detail was comprised of HSI staff is especially concerning given the admission by federal officials that they have been aware for some time of an Iranian-backed plot to assassinate former President Trump as a reprisal for the 2020 drone strike that killed Iranian military leader and terrorist Qasem Soleimani.
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🚨🚨 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