The U.S. Secret Service has been slammed after it acknowledged that it had turned down requests for additional resources from Donald Trump‘s security detail in the two years leading up to his attempted assassination after having previously denied doing so.
The agency has come under intense scrutiny since a gunman opened fire at Trump from a rooftop while the former president was speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. The former president was left with a bloodied ea. One of his supporters was killed and two others were seriously injured before the gunman was shot dead by Secret Service agents.
Soon after the shooting, the Secret Service denied accusations that it had turned down requests for additional resources from Trump’s detail.
“There’s an untrue assertion that a member of the former president’s team requested additional security resources and that those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false,” Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, a day after the shooting.
Secret Service Director, Kimberly Cheatle, who is facing calls to resign, repeated the denial in a meeting with Trump campaign’s leadership on Monday, The Washington Post reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Guglielmi has now acknowledged that some requests from Trump’s detail had been denied. He told the Post that the Secret Service had learned new information that indicated the agency’s headquarters may have rebuffed the calls for more assistance.
“The Secret Service has a vast, dynamic, and intricate mission,” Guglielmi said in a statement to Newsweek on Sunday. “Every day we work in a dynamic threat environment to ensure our protectees are safe and secure across multiple events, travel, and other challenging environments. We execute a comprehensive and layered strategy to balance personnel, technology, and specialized operational needs.”
He added that in some instances “where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protectee. This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protectee.”
The Trump campaign has been contacted for comment via email.
Oh, so USSS brass lied! They flagrantly denied something they could have checked in two seconds, then after an uproar they turned around and told the truth a week later about a simple request for more manpower on my father’s detail.Why try to hide that easily discoverable fact? pic.twitter.com/ldu0YtQcyp
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 21, 2024
The reports sparked anger among Trump’s allies and supporters.
The former president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., took to social media to accuse the Secret Service of lying.
“Oh, so USSS brass lied!” Trump Jr. wrote on X, alongside a screenshot of the Post‘s report that included some of Gugliemi’s comments.
“They flagrantly denied something they could have checked in two seconds, then after an uproar they turned around and told the truth a week later about a simple request for more manpower on my father’s detail. Why try to hide that easily discoverable fact?”
“Cheatle lied to us,” Florida Senator Rick Scott wrote on X in response to the Post‘s report.
“She must immediately hold a press conference, tell the truth & put out all available info, then resign. If she refuses, @POTUS needs to fire her tomorrow.”
Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican, wrote that the Secret Service “lied and President Trump almost died.”
Congresswoman Majorie Taylor Greene, a close ally of Trump, wrote: “Why did Secret Service deny President Trump additional protection and resources? They asked for two years.”
Others slammed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who said on CNN on Monday that the accusation that he had issued denials was “a baseless and irresponsible statement and it is one that is unequivocally false.”
The popular right-wing End Wokeness account wrote: “DHS Secretary Mayorkas said he DID NOT deny any requests for more protection by Trump. He called it baseless and false. Turns out, he lied. This man belong in jail.”
DHS Secretary Mayorkas said he DID NOT deny any requests for more protection by Trump. He called it baseless and false.
Turns out, he lied. This man belong in jail. pic.twitter.com/Bwtw4jzhly
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 20, 2024
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