Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) on Thursday revealed a Secret Service whistleblower alleged Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe made cuts to personnel who could have helped prevent an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump and that there was retaliation against those who expressed concerns about security at Trump events.
In an August 1, 2024, letter to Rowe, Hawley said a whistleblower alleged that the agency’s Counter Surveillance Division (CSD) did not perform its typical evaluation of the site of Trump’s July 13 campaign rally and was not present at the rally.
“This is significant because CSD’s duties include evaluating potential security threats outside the security perimeter and mitigating those threats during the event,” Hawley said.
“The whistleblower claims that if personnel from CSD had been present at the rally, the gunman would have been handcuffed in the parking lot after being spotted with a rangefinder,” he added.
Hawley also said the whistleblower alleged that CSD could have flagged or mitigated the risk of leaving the building where a shooter fired at Trump from outside the Secret Service’s perimeter.
Hawley said the whistleblower alleged that Rowe “personally directed significant cuts to CSD” that included reducing the division’s manpower by 20 percent, and noted that Rowe did not mention this during his testimony to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday.
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Committee on Oversight and AccountabilityFurthermore, Hawley said the whistleblower alleged retaliation against those within the Secret Service who expressed concern about security at Trump events.
“The whistleblower claims that following an event with the former President at a golf tournament in August of last year, Secret Service personnel present expressed serious concern that the Secret Service’s use of local law enforcement was not adequate for security needs: local law enforcement were not properly trained for the event or otherwise prepared to execute the tasks given them,” Hawley said.
“Further, Secret Service personnel expressed alarm that individuals were admitted to the event without vetting. The whistleblower alleges that those who raised such concerns were retaliated against,” he added.
Hawley asked Rowe for all records by August 8 relating to policy and personnel changes made to the CSD, and his personal involvement in changing or revising those policies, as well as the number of Secret Service agents facing disciplinary actions after raising concerns about Secret Service security practices.
Hawley additionally sought the exact breakdown of Secret Service personnel at the July 13 rally by division or unit.
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