Republican Senator Josh Hawley released a detailed report on Monday morning detailing Secret Service failures in connection with the first attack. Assassination attempts A number of allegations were leveled against former President Donald Trump in July, including new whistleblower allegations that are “highly damaging to the credibility” of the agency.
Hawley, R-Mo., shared his report with the House task force. Attempted murder A committee has been formed, chaired by Donald J. Trump, to pursue his investigation.
Hawley found there was “a pattern of negligence, recklessness and gross incompetence that extended over a period of years, and which culminated in a murder attempt that came inches away from being successful.”
“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,” the Hawley report states. “It was the most shocking lapse in presidential security since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan.”
Former President Trump was injured during an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ivan Vucci)
Hawley said the Secret Service, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security “have all tried to avoid real accountability.”
“These agencies and their leaders have delayed congressional investigations, misled the American people, and evaded responsibility,” the report said.
Following the first of two assassination attempts against Trump in just two months, Hawley visited the Butler, Pennsylvania rally site, interviewed whistleblowers, opened a whistleblower line, and encouraged those with relevant information to share it with authorities.
“The resulting findings are extremely damaging to the credibility of the Secret Service and DHS,” the report said. “They expose an escalating pattern of negligence, recklessness, and gross incompetence that spanned years, resulting in an assassination attempt that came inches away from succeeding.”
The informants provided Hawley with key information, including that the Secret Service’s Counter Surveillance Division, which performs threat assessments of venues, had not conducted its usual assessment of the Butler venue and was not present on the day of the rally.
Hawley also found that Secret Service personnel “rejected multiple offers by a local law enforcement partner to deploy drone technology, despite the fact that the would-be assassin had used a drone to surveil the rally site just hours before the assassination attempt.”
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) tells Jesse Watters that he is in contact with informants about the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Trump. (Getty Images/Fox News)
Hawley also learned that the Secret Service’s Protective Operations-Manpower office had told agents in charge of securing the rally “not to request additional security resources because they would be denied.”
Trump assassination attempt: Whistleblowers claim they were ‘totally unprepared’ to provide security
The report also mentioned other whistleblower allegations, including that law enforcement personnel “abandoned” the rooftop where assassin Thomas Crooks attempted to murder Trump “due to the hot weather.”
The report also said that Secret Service agents responsible for securing the site, including “sight-line concerns,” were reportedly “regarded as incompetent.”
“This inefficiency led to items such as flags being placed around the Butler stage and catwalk, which impacted visibility,” the report said.
The whistleblowers also told Hawley that supplemental DHS personnel were used to make up for a shortage of Secret Service personnel on the day of the rally. Some of those agents were reportedly diverted from child abuse cases. The whistleblowers said their training was “only a poor-quality, two-hour webinar.”
Meanwhile, Hawley revealed in the report that the lead agent responsible for the Butler rally “had failed a key test during federal law enforcement training to become a Secret Service agent.”
Hawley was also informed that Secret Service intelligence units — or teams of Secret Service agents who work closely with state and local law enforcement to handle reports of suspicious persons — were reportedly absent from the Butler rally.
The whistleblowers also told Hawley that the hospital where Trump was treated after the shooting “had poor security, and a hospital agent could not answer basic questions about site security.”
Kimberly Cheatle, who was the Secret Service director at the time of the rally, resigned amid growing pressure from congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle after the massive security failure.
Secret Service Assistant Director Michael Plati is also retiring.
At least five Secret Service agents have been placed on leave since the assassination attempt in July.
Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face while surrounded by Secret Service agents while being led off the stage at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump was struck by Crooks’ bullet, which grazed the top of his right ear. As Secret Service agents led him away, blood dripping from his cheek and right ear, the former president raised his arm.
Trump, just a day later, headed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the 2024 Republican National Convention. He attended events every night of the convention and formally accepted the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on the final night.
Hawley released his report just a day after the second assassination attempt on Trump.
Trump was playing golf at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday when Secret Service agents spotted and opened fire on another would-be assassin — Ryan Wesley Routh — who reportedly had an AK-47 pointed at the former president.
Routh has been arrested. Fox News confirmed that Routh laughed and smiled before making his first court appearance in Florida on Monday.
He has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with the serial number obliterated. Fox News has been told that additional federal charges could be filed.
The maximum penalty for the first offense was 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and supervised release. The maximum penalty for the second offense was five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and supervised release. When Routh was asked if he understood the penalties, he answered “yes.”
Trump says there was an attempt to assassinate him at Pennsylvania rally and he was ‘shot at’
Fox News has been told that additional federal charges are possible. Routh remains in custody pending preliminary charges announced Monday.
A detention hearing is scheduled for Sept. 23 and a probable cause hearing for Sept. 30.
Trump International Golf Club is shown on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Lynn Sladky)
Before his recent arrest, Routh had at least 100 run-ins with law enforcement officers.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said President Biden and Vice President Harris’ “rhetoric” is what’s causing him to step down “Shot down,” After the second assassination attempt against him since July, he told Fox News Digital that the suspected gunman “acted out” on “highly inflammatory language” from Democrats.
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris and acted accordingly,” Trump said of the gunman in an interview with Fox News Digital. “Their rhetoric is why I’m getting shot at, when I’m supposed to be saving the country, and they’re the ones destroying it — inside and out.”
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Trump pointed to past comments by Biden and Harris calling Trump a “threat to democracy,” while telling Americans they are leaders of “unity.”
“They’re the opposite. These are people who want to destroy our country,” Trump said.
“It’s called the enemy within. They’re the real threat,” he said.
