Just one day after a second attempt on President Donald Trump’s life, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has released Secret Service whistleblower allegations regarding the first failed assassination in July.
On Monday morning, Hawley released a wide-ranging report detailing the failures of the Secret Service in connection with the first assassination attempt against Trump.
The report includes new whistleblower allegations that are “highly damaging to the credibility” of the Secret Service.
Hawley shared his report with the House Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump to supplement the ongoing investigations.
The Republican senator found a “compounding pattern of negligence, sloppiness, and gross incompetence that goes back years, all of which culminated in an assassination attempt that came inches from succeeding.”
Hawley’s report states:
“On July 13, 2024, former President Donald J. Trump was nearly killed by an assassin’s bullet while hosting a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Secret Service failed to prevent it.
“It was the most stunning breakdown in presidential security since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan.”
However, despite the severity of the attack, Hawley said the Secret Service, FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “have all tried to evade real accountability.”
“These agencies and their leaders have slow-walked congressional investigations, misled the American people, and shirked responsibility,” the report states.
🚨🚨 NEW – Following the latest assassination attempt on @realDonaldTrump, I’m releasing a comprehensive Whistleblower Report on the multiple failures of Secret Service & DHS – including new allegations & numerous unanswered questions due to USSS stonewalling pic.twitter.com/Rxcim9N05U
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) September 16, 2024
The report comes just one day after a second assassination attempt against Trump was foiled on Sunday.
Authorities say that 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh managed to get about 400 to 500 yards away from Trump and hidden in shrubbery while the 45th president played golf at a nearby hole.
A Secret Service agent reportedly spotted a gun muzzle emerging from shrubbery on Trump’s golf course in Palm Beach, Florida.
The gunman was just a few holes ahead of where Trump was playing.
The agent immediately opened fire, prompting Routh to flee before being apprehended.
A rifle and a scope, two backpacks, and a GoPro video camera device were recovered at the scene, Palm Beach County sheriff Ric Bradshaw said in a news conference.
As Slay News reported, records show that Routh has made multiple political donations to the Democrats.
According to reports, Routh’s social media posts indicate that he’s a “massive Trump hater.”
After the first of two assassination attempts against Trump in just over two months, Hawley visited the Butler rally site to interview whistleblowers.
Hawley also established a whistleblower tip line, encouraging those with relevant information to share with officials.
“The resulting findings are highly damaging to the credibility of the Secret Service and DHS,” the report states.
“They reveal a compounding pattern of negligence, sloppiness, and gross incompetence that goes back years, all of which culminated in an assassination attempt that came inches from succeeding.”
Whistleblowers provided valuable information to Hawley.
That information included the revelation that the Secret Service’s Counter Surveillance Division, which performs threat assessments of event sites, did not perform a typical evaluation of the Butler site.
The team was also not present on the day of the rally.
Hawley also learned that Secret Service personnel “declined multiple offers from a local law enforcement partner to deploy drone technology, despite the fact that the would-be assassin used a drone to survey the rally site mere hours before the attempted assassination.”
In addition, the Secret Service’s Office of Protective Operations-Manpower told agents in charge of security for the rally “not to request additional security resources because they would be denied.”
The report also outlines other whistleblower allegations, including that law enforcement personnel “abandoned” the rooftop where would-be assassin Thomas Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump “because of hot weather.”
The Secret Service agent with the responsibility of the security of the site, including “line-of-site concerns,” was allegedly “known to be incompetent,” the report adds.
“That incompetence led to the placement of items like flags around the Butler stage and catwalk, impairing visibility,” the report states.
Whistleblowers also told Hawley that shortages of Secret Service personnel on the day of the rally were filled in with supplemental DHS personnel.
Some of those DHS agents were allegedly pulled off of child exploitation cases.
Whistleblowers said their training for Trump’s security protection was “merely a poor-quality, two-hour webinar.”
Meanwhile, the report reveals that the lead agent responsible for the Butler rally “failed a key examination during their federal law enforcement training to become a Secret Service agent.”
Hawley was told that Secret Service intelligence units and other additional teams were allegedly absent from the Butler rally.
Whistleblowers also told Hawley that the hospital site where Trump received treatment after the shooting was “poorly secured, and the hospital site agent could not answer basic questions about site security.”
Kimberly Cheatle was the director of the Secret Service at the time of the rally.
She resigned from her post amid mounting pressure from congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle after the massive security failure.
The Secret Service’s assistant director, Michael Plati, is also retiring.
Since the assassination attempt in July, at least five Secret Service agents have been placed on leave.
Crooks was able to open fire on Trump and the rally crowd before he was neutralized.
He fired several bullets at Trump, one of which pierced the upper part of his right ear.
In a historic moment, as Secret Service agents led him away, with blood dripping down his cheek and his right ear, the 45th president raised his arm defiantly.
Trump, just a day later, traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the 2024 Republican National Convention (RNC).
He attended events each night of the convention and formally accepted the GOP presidential nomination on the final night.
Routh, the suspect arrested for the second assassination attempt, reportedly laughed and smiled ahead of his first court appearance in Florida on Monday
He was charged with possession of firearm by convicted felon and possession of firearm with obliterated serial number.
The first offense carried a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and supervised release.
The second offense carried a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and supervised release.
Routh responded “yes” when asked if he understood the penalties.
Additional federal charges are still possible.
The detention hearing is scheduled for September 23, and the probable cause hearing is set for Sept. 30.
Routh has had at least 100 run-ins with law enforcement before his most recent arrest.
READ MORE – Would-Be Trump Assassin Ryan Routh Is a Democrat Donor: ‘Massive Trump Hater’
