Former president Donald J. Trump’s Secret Service permanent detail were stood down for the Butler, Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, according to an admission by Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
In place of Trump’s permanent detail, “supplemental special agents” were sent from the Pittsburgh field office to provide all of the security measures for the rally on Saturday.
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The site agent, who was in charge of putting all security measures for a particular event in place, was a “relatively new agent” from the Pittsburgh office with “limited experience,” a Secret Service source told Real Clear Politics.
According to the Secret Service, Trump’s permanent detail were stood down for the Butler rally on Saturday because they were “overburdened” and had been working consecutive seven-day weeks and needed a break.
“Trump has a permanent detail, however, it’s much smaller in the number of bodies than the president’s,” the source explained. “His detail has been worked so hard with all the travel that they’re working seven days a week with shift changes, so headquarters sends in temporary agents to supplement. Not a good scenario.”
The Secret Service faced sharp criticism for skipping a press conference Saturday night after the deadly shooting, which local officials and FBI officials attended just hours after Trump was shot.
It wasn’t until Sunday that the Secret Service held a press briefing at Centennial Hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ahead of the Republican National Convention.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle eventually released a statement on Monday addressing the shooting, claiming that “Secret Service personnel on the ground moved quickly during the incident, with our counter sniper team neutralizing the shooter and our agents implementing protective measures to ensure the safety of former president Donald Trump.”
Via Real Clear Politics:
Elon Musk called for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign over the failure to protect Trump from gunfire at the rally. Musk reposted a tweet from Jack Posobiec, who asked, “How was a sniper with a full rifle kit allowed to bear crawl onto the closest roof to a presidential nominee?”
“Extreme incompetence or it was deliberate,” Musk wrote. “Either way, the SS leadership must resign.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, called the assassination attempt “the worst security failure for a president since JFK.”
Inside job
Former acting DHS Director Chad Wolf is also questioning why the Secret Service is using similar resources that it would use for past presidents Obama or Bill Clinton, instead of a more robust protective detail.
“At the end of the day, this is a complete security failure,” Wolf told Fox News Sunday afternoon.
“Is it because of a lack of resources? They are using what they normally would for a former president, but President Trump is not a normal former president.”
Secret Service officials in charge of the event provided only two counter-sniper officers when such an exposed outside rally would normally call for the use of two to three two-man teams, the source continued.
Florida Republican Rep. Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret, insisted Sunday that Trump’s advisors repeatedly requested more security for the former president.
Secret Service spokesman Guglielmi has denied that claim, but Waltz stands by his assertion, citing “very reliable sources.”
