A whistleblower has come forward with serious allegations against the Secret Service, claiming that significant cuts to the Counter Surveillance Division (CSD) were directed by Acting Director Ronald Rowe. These cuts allegedly compromised the safety protocols leading up to an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
The Post Millennial reports that one Republican Senator is willing to get to the bottom of the Secret Service’s apparent corruption.
In a letter from Sen. Josh Hawley to Acting USSS Director Ronald Rowe, it states, “A whistleblower has alleged to my office that the Secret Service Counter Surveillance Division (CSD), the division that performs threat assessment of event sites before the event occurs, did not perform its typical evaluation of the Butler site and was nor present on the day.”
“This is significant because CSD’s duties include evaluating potential security threats outside the security perimeter and mitigating those threats during the event. The whistleblower claims that if personnel from CSD had been present at the rally, the gunman would have been handcuffed in the parking lot after being spotted with a rangefinder.”
Hawley continued, “The whistleblower further alleges that you personally directed significant cuts to CSD, up to and including reducing the division’s manpower by twenty percent. You did not mention this in your Senate testimony when asked directly to explain manpower reductions.”
The Missouri Senator further added that the allegations from the whistleblower included that some of the agents who had been working on threat assessment had been warning the agency of dangers for months ahead of the rally. Hawley also demanded that Rowe provide materials regarding his “personal involvement in revising, updating, or otherwise changing Secret Service policies and personnel related to CSD” by August 8 among other records.
🚨🚨 BREAKING: Whistleblower tells @HawleyMO USSS Acting Director Rowe PERSONALLY DIRECTED cuts to the agents who do threat assessments for events.
Whistleblower says those agents were NOT present in Butler – and some of them had warned of security problems for months pic.twitter.com/tRNoSYKW3E
— Abigail Jackson 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) August 1, 2024
The Secret Service has been thrust into the spotlight following the near-assassination of Donald Trump, which recently led to the resignation of its director, Kim Cheatle, amid serious allegations regarding agency practices and personnel decisions. She allegedly received her position not because of skill, but because she was well-liked by First Lady Jill Biden.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign claims the Secret Service denied requests for increased security prior to the assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The campaign says they sought more agents and sniper teams, but these requests were turned down by Secret Service officials, who cited staffing shortages and other reasons.
Despite initial denials by Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, recent reports confirm the Biden administration rejected Trump’s requests for additional protection.
The Washington Post reported that “those rejections — in response to requests that were several times made in writing — led to long-standing tensions that pitted Trump, his top aides and his security detail against Secret Service leadership, as Trump advisers privately fretted that the vaunted security agency was not doing enough to protect the former president.
The Secret Service, after initially denying turning down requests for additional security, is now acknowledging some may have been rejected. The revelation comes as agency veterans say the organization has been forced to make difficult decisions amid competing demands, a growing list of protectees and limited funding.”
Recent shocking video showed how perilously close the shooter got to Trump without the Secret Service taking action to protect him.
Dan Bongino asks how a basic cell phone video can capture a person running on the roof but the Secret Service with high-powered equipment missed it entirely.
“How do you miss this?!”
“This is a cell phone camera. It’s not even focused, and you can still see… pic.twitter.com/K2hNBZrIGB
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) August 1, 2024
Both Republicans and Democrats have expressed outrage over the shooting. Republican chairman of the weaponization of government committee, Jim Jordan, has announced he will be opening an investigation into the matter, along with several other members of Congress and the Senate.
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