Secret Service officials refused to provide Donald Trump with additional security in the two years prior to last weekend’s assassination, according to a report.
The damning details revealed that the ex-president’s request for more agents and magnetometers at events he attended was denied.
Four insiders told The Washington Post that each request was rejected by senior officials. The higher-ups of the Secret Service allegedly claimed that the agency lacked the resources Trump was asking for.
It has also been revealed that Trump was receiving less protection – after losing the election and his bid for a second term in 2020 – than other former presidents and major party presidential candidates.
These oversights have been unearthed in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Trump, 78, last Saturday at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
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Secret Service officials refused to provide Donald Trump with additional security in the two years prior to last weekend’s assassination
Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to bypass security measures at the rally and take fire at the presidential candidate.
Crooks’ bullet managed to graze Trump’s ear, leaving him with a minor gunshot wound that could have been deadly had the former president not moved his head at the last moment.
The Secret Service’s botched job has been described as ‘an enormous security failure’ and many are calling for the resignation of the agency’s director, Kimberly Cheatle.
Crooks’ attempt on Trump’s life was enabled by multiple instances of negligence on behalf of the security agents.
Somehow, Crooks was able to fly a drone over the rally site the same day as the event – which investigators believe was an effort on his behalf to scope out the situation and prepare for his assassination attempt.
Additionally, he was spotted and then watched by law enforcement at the Trump rally site – because they sensed something wasn’t right – and yet they managed to lose sight of him before the carnage unfolded, according to reports.
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A report revealed that the ex-president’s request for more agents and magnetometers at events he attended was denied.
Witnesses have since claimed that they warned cops about a man armed with an AR-style rifle who was seen climbing on top of a building – but Crooks was still able to open fire from the roof that he gained access to.
It could be the worst lapse in security since President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded at a Washington D.C. hotel in 1981.
They now face a torrent of questions about how the first assassination attempt in 43 years was allowed to happen.
Politicians, law enforcement and critics are demanding answers on how Crooks managed to get so close to a rally that was surrounded by such vast security.
Last Saturday night, FBI Special Agent Kevin Rojek released a statement saying that it was ‘surprising’ that Crooks managed to fire off so many shots.
There have been suggestions that routine checks would have eliminated all potential threats – which calls into question the standard of the Secret Service under the current administration.
![The Secret Service's botched job has been described as 'an enormous security failure' and many are calling for the resignation of the agency's director, Kimberly Cheatle (pictured)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/21/01/87579005-13655361-image-a-31_1721522016450.jpg)
The Secret Service’s botched job has been described as ‘an enormous security failure’ and many are calling for the resignation of the agency’s director, Kimberly Cheatle (pictured)
In fact, furious US senators took it upon themselves to confront Cheatle as she herself hid behind her own security agents.
She was shielded by her officers after the senators pursued her down the corridors of the RNC and demanded she explain how a gunman was able to get a clear shot at Trump.
Cheatle was in the Milwaukee convention hall to oversee security arrangements on Wednesday evening – just hours after making a ‘cover-your-a** call’ to senators about the shooting in Pennsylvania on Saturday night.
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Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee led the chase, complaining that they had not had a chance to put their questions to Cheatle during the call.
A frustrated Barrasso then issued an ultimatum to the security chief.
‘You put him within less than an inch of his life,’ Barrasso yelled at Cheatle. ‘So resignation or full explanation.’
The chase continued down a corridor and up a flight of stairs before finally ending when Cheatle darted into a bathroom and her security service detail barred her pursuers from entering.
Video of the incident was later posted by Senator Blackburn.
Experts have told DailyMail.com that these failings are a symptom of an ‘agency in crisis’ after decades of understaffing and corrupt promotion and hiring practices.
John Koskinen, from the nonpartisan National Academy of Public Administration, led an 18-month study into the Secret Service’s workforce in 2019.
Saturday’s events shocked him, but Koskinen was not surprised by the whistleblower claims, telling DailyMail.com that the Service has been struggling to cover an increasing number of people and respond to more sophisticated threats in recent years.
‘Life has gotten much more complicated,’ he said, ‘the threats are more sophisticated and ongoing, and now you’re in the middle of a campaign.’
Cheatle, 53, was appointed director of the Secret Service in 2022, having worked for the agency for 27 years before leaving in 2019 to head up global security at PepsiCo.
Announcing her selection, President Joe Biden revealed that ‘Kim’ had ‘served on my security detail when I was Vice President’ and he and Dr. Jill Biden ‘came to trust her judgment and counsel’.