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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., called out the Secret Service on X after whistleblowers revealed that the federal law enforcement agency attempted to withhold security resources at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally where President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt.
Hawley wrote that the Secret Service is now “trying to cover their tracks.”
He shared footage from his Tuesday Fox News interview with Jesse Waters where he explained that the Secret Service director told agents not to ask for certain security resources, including counter-snipers for the July 13 rally.
Hawley alleged that the director informally declared this so there wouldn’t be a paper trail if something went awry. He said, “I think they wanted to be able to say what the director did say to Congress misleadingly, ‘Oh we never technically, formally denied anything.’”
“Of course, that’s because they told them in advanced, ‘Don’t request it, because if you do, we won’t give it to you,’” he added.
He went on, “This was an attempt to deny counter snipers. Remember, they only finally got counter snipers to come on the day,” of the event.
He then asked, “Can you imagine what would’ve happened if there had been no counter snipers at all at this event?”
Hawley confirmed that the Secret Service was supposed to receive four counter-sniper teams once they received approval that day, but only two arrived.
“They’re the ones that usually do a site advance,” he noted. “They identify problems in the security perimeter. Whistleblowers tell me that they didn’t get to do the advance because again, Secret Service leadership denied it.”
“We need the facts here because the more we learn the worse this gets,” he concluded.
Just last week, the AP News reported that five Secret Service agents were placed on modified leave after the assassination attempt, but two surviving victims of the shooting are seeking more accountability.
According to Fox News, 74-year-old James Copenhaver and 57-year-old David Dutch were both critically injured after being shot twice at the rally, while Corey Comperatore was killed. The lawyer for the two survivors, Army veteran Joseph Feldman, noted that he is looking into “different avenues” to hold those responsible accountable.
He said, “I think we’re going to get to the bottom of that here at some point, whether that’s through the [congressional] task force, through these investigations or if we do have to file a lawsuit. We’ll definitely get answers through that process.”