Whistleblower claims Secret Service 'painting a false picture' of protection for Trump: Hawley
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is detailing new whistleblower allegations that Secret Service leadership is trying to hide the level of protection given to former President Trump.
Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley sent letters to U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leaders on Wednesday detailing a new whistleblower claim that Secret Service leadership is trying to hide the level of protection given to former President Trump.
The letter to USSS Director Ronald Rowe and DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari alleges a whistleblower’s claims that government auditors are being denied access to certain Trump campaign events in an effort to hide these apparent protection shortfalls for the former president.
"You of course have publicly stated that former President Trump is receiving ‘the highest level of Secret Service protection’ and that ‘he’s getting everything.’ This new whistleblower information troublingly contradicts your public statements," Hawley wrote in his letter to Rowe.
In his letter to Cuffari, Hawley said the new whistleblower allegations say "Secret Service headquarters blocked several of your auditors from accessing recent Trump campaign events."
"The Secret Service whistleblower alleges that the denial was in order to hide the fact that the former president is not receiving a consistent level of protective assets for all of his engagements," Hawley wrote. "[Y]ou should be aware of these allegations, which indicate that the Secret Service is not in fact cooperating with your auditors and is instead painting a false picture."
The Secret Service could not immediately be reached for comment.
Since the July 13 assassination attempt against the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania, Hawley has been collecting whistleblower claims to expose potential USSS deficits and errors.
About two months after 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks shot Trump in the ear, Hawley released a wide-ranging whistleblower report detailing various allegations against the agency.
Hawley found a "compounding pattern of negligence, sloppiness, and gross incompetence that goes back years, all of which culminated in an assassination attempt that came inches from succeeding," the report read.
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The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed Hawley’s legislation requiring DHS to submit all information regarding the July 13 and Sept. 15 assassination attempts against Trump.
Crooks' gunfire during the first assassination attempt left rally attendee Corey Comperatore, a husband and father of two, dead. Crooks also shot and critically wounded two other rally attendees, James Copenhaver and David Dutch.
