The United States Secret Service has admitted it had turned down a request for additional resources to protect former President Donald Trump before his attempted assassination last week, according to a report carried by The New York Times.
Secret Services spokesman Anthony Guglielmi acknowledged in a statement to the daily that some requests for additional federal security assets for Trump’s detail were turned down in the two years leading up to the attempt on July 13.
He said the denied requests were not specifically for the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the Republican presidential candidate, clipping his ear and killing a person in the crowd behind him.
The Washington Post also quoted four unnamed informed sources as saying on Saturday that previous requests by the Trump security detail from the Secret Service were repeatedly denied.
Guglielmi had initially denied accusations, including from some Republicans, that it had rejected any requests for more resources.
In his statement to the NYT on Saturday, he emphasised that the Secret Service works in a “dynamic threat environment” and has to adapt.
“In some instances where specific Secret Service specialised units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protectee,” he said. “This may include utilising state or local partners to provide specialised functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protectee.”
Guglielmi said the federal agency is limited in the amount of resources it can dispatch to events.
The comments come as Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who has come under heavy criticism in the aftermath of the attempted assassination, is due to face a hearing with the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on Monday.
The Secret Service has so far refused to hold news conferences or any public briefings like other law enforcement authorities, fuelling the barrage of criticism.
Videos circulating on social media earlier this week showed a group of senators chasing the federal agency’s director through the Republican National Convention venue in Milwaukee, saying she was not answering questions about the shooting.
Four senators confronted Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle at the Republican National Convention. https://t.co/hTqEugwmq4 pic.twitter.com/kU35MvgCtl
— New York Post (@nypost) July 18, 2024
On Saturday, Trump said nobody forewarned him of a problem in the lead-up to the Pennsylvania rally last week.
“Nobody mentioned it, nobody said there was a problem. I would’ve waited for 15, they could’ve said let’s wait for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, five minutes, something. Nobody said,” Trump told Fox News in an interview.
“I think that was a mistake,” he added. “How did somebody get on that roof? And why wasn’t he reported?”
Several Republicans have called on Cheatle to resign. The Secret Service has said she has no intention to resign.
A government-appointed watchdog has opened an investigation into the organisation’s handling of the situation.
The Secret Service is facing questions as to the way it assigned local law enforcement officers in the lead-up to the assassination attempt, and how the attacker was able to freely roam the outside perimeter, and climb the roof of a building with snipers stationed inside despite attempts by civilians to warn.
The NYT quoted an unnamed Trump campaign official as saying an insufficient number of metal detectors to screen attendees at events has been a consistent concern. The official said a request by the Trump team for specially trained dogs to search the area during an outdoor rally earlier this month was denied as well.
According to the unnamed source, requests were often denied in phone calls from service officials, and not formally rejected in writing.
