Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) said on Friday that most of the security personnel at former President Donald Trump’s Saturday campaign rally had been “unprepared and inexperienced” DHS personnel rather than actual members of the U.S. Secret Service.
Hawley shared a letter he was sending to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, demanding answers for a series of apparent lapses in security that ultimately allowed a gunman to attain access to an elevated position less than 200 yards from the rally stage where Trump was speaking. Secret Service is part of DHS.
“Whistleblowers tell me that MOST of Trump’s security detail working the event last Saturday were not even Secret Service. DHS assigned unprepared and inexperienced personnel,” Hawley said.
“I write to raise concerns brought to me by whistleblowers about your department’s stunning failure to protect former President Trump on July 13, 2024,” Hawley began. “As Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), you are ultimately responsible for your agency and its components, including the U.S. Secret Service (USSS).”
Hawley then cited whistleblowers, whom he said had identified several apparent failures when it came to the security of the Trump rally on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a ‘loose’ security event. For example, detection canines were not used to monitor entry and detect threats in the usual manner. Individuals without proper designations were able to gain access to backstage areas. Department personnel did not appropriately police the security buffer around the podium and were also not stationed at regular intervals around the event’s security perimeter,” he wrote.
He also noted that, according to the whistleblowers, several of those who had been tasked with the security detail were not actually Secret Service agents but rather members of the DHS Homeland Security Investigations unit.
“This is especially concerning given that HSI agents were unfamiliar with standard protocols typically used at these types of events, according to the allegations,” Hawley noted.
“Unfortunately, your department has not been appropriately forthcoming with Members of Congress — abruptly ending the only call with USSS before most senators could even ask a question,” the Missouri senator continued. “This is completely unacceptable and contrary to the public’s interest in transparency.”
Hawley concluded with a list of questions for Mayorkas and other DHS officials familiar with the matter to answer, setting a deadline for seven days from the receipt of his letter:
1. How did DHS determine to staff the event, including any decision to rely on state or local officers?
2. What percentage of the DHS agents at the event were from HSI rather than USSS? Were a majority of officers at the event drawn from HSI or other DHS components, rather than USSS? If so, why?
3. Were HSI agents properly trained in staffing these types of events?
4. Did gaps exist in the security perimeter, and were the usual protocols followed for the use of canines and magnetometers?
5. Were agents not appropriately stationed around the podium?
6. Were the standard protocols followed for issuing designated pins to vetted personnel that are allowed backstage?
7. How long did agents physically spend on the ground surveying the site before the event? Did any paperwork obligations prevent a longer and more robust site survey?
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