Secret Service REJECTS claims Trump was denied extra protection before shooting as questions grow over 'security failure'
- House Republicans have scheduled a hearing and called Secret Service head
- The agency blasted 'untrue' assertions Trump's team sought more security
The Secret Service has rejected claims the former President Donald Trump was denied additional protection before the attempted assassination as the agency faced mounting questions over the failure in security.
Secret Service spokesman Andrew Guglielmi hit back at 'untrue' allegations from Republicans and members of the former president's inner circle that requests for a bigger security detail were rebuffed.
Agents killed 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks after he shot Trump while he was speaking to a crowd of thousands of adoring fans in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The bullet went through Trump's ear in the failed assassination attempt that has sparked calls for an investigation into what has been called a security 'failure'.
Crooks also killed a member of the rally crowd when he opened fire with an AR-style rifle from a rooftop 130 yards away from the rally stage, prompting questions of of how he was able to get so close.
Witnesses say they warned law enforcement that an armed man was crawling on top of the building just outside the security perimeter before the shots rang out.
The Secret Service hit back at claims Donald Trump's team had sought additional security before the stunning assassination attempt on the former president
'There's an untrue assertion that a member of the former President's team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed,' Guglielmi wrote on X on Sunday morning, responding to Trump supporters and online claims.
'This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo.'
Congressional Republicans are preparing to conduct a 'full investigation' of the Trump assassination attempt and question head of the Secret Service for questioning about the incident.
Dramatic footage of the incident shows Secret Service agents rushing to protect Trump after the Pennsylvania shooting, but the agency was not present during a law enforcement briefing and faces questions about how the suspected shooter was able to gain access to a high roof near the event site.
House Republicans plan to bring Secret Service head Kimberly Cheatle for what is expected to be heated questioning on July 22, as lawmakers demand answers.
'I have already contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and am also calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing. The Oversight Committee will send a formal invitation soon,' said House Oversight chairman Rep. James Comer of Kentucky.
The suspected shooter came within inches of killing the former president, who was wounded in the ear and hurried away from his Pennsylvania speech venue by Secret Service agents.
Trump raises his fist below the American flag, with blood across his face, moments after the shooting
The agency has already announced its own investigation into how a shooter armed with an AR weapon was able to scale a building providing superior sight lines to where the president was speaking. He fired multiple shots from what the agency called an 'elevated position' about 150 yards away from Trump.
Some witnesses said they flagged the suspicious activity minutes before the shooting.
One witness said those delays went on for several minutes. There are questions about why the agency itself didn't have control of the nearby roof, why member of a counter-assault team didn't take action before the incident, and how the shooter was able to get off multiple shots.
The agency is set to be grilled on how a shooting suspect was able to climb to an elevated location
The Secret Service called the claim 'absolutely false'
Snipers were able to take out the suspected shooter, but not until after he had fired on the former president
The agents who rushed to protect Trump are being heralded, but the agency is already facing tough questions about how the incident was allowed to happen
'There will be an intensive review' said former Secret Service agent Joseph LaSorsa. 'There's going to be a massive realignment,' he told Reuters. 'This cannot happen.'
Kevin Rojek, FBI Special Agent in charge of Pittsburg field office, told a reporter at a briefing hours after the incident that 'There's going to be a long investigation into what exactly took place' and that it could take months. 'It is surprising' the shooter was able to get off four or five shots, he said.
Retired Secret Service agent Jeff James told Fox news snipers may have failed to heed warnings in time because they were focused on long range territory as far as 1,000 yards away.
'They may have been looking at what they thought was another perceived target behind him. When people, you know, if this actually happened and people were saying, hey, there's a guy up there, there's a guy up there, they may have been looking at an elevated natural feature in the tree line behind those buildings,' he told Fox News.
'So it's, you know, it's a lot to see all at once and with people yelling and pointing and it's hard -- maybe hard to discern what they're pointing at. It certainly could lead to something right just that close to them being missed,' he said.
An extraordinary photo shows Donald Trump on the ground at Butler Show Grounds in Pennsylvania Saturday after he was injured in a shooting that left two people dead
Donald Trump said he was shot in the right ear at his rally
Amid what is certain to be a long-term probe, security is getting a fresh look at the convention where Republican officials are converging from around the country and where Trump is set to receive his party's nomination Thursday.
With the Republican Convention set to get underway within hours, a senior official said security at the event will be 'reexamined.'
A host of federal agencies have already been planning for months on how to secure the convention designated as a national security event. ABC News quoted a senior federal official saying the elaborate security plan would be reexamined.
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Jonson told CNN, asked about the arrangements, 'I know there's a lot of manpower here and that's the first stop of security, you have to have people, law enforcement people present to deter any kind of violence.' He added, 'I'm not concerned about Wisconsin citizens, I'd be concerned about outside agitators. But obviously I think this is just going to heighten security. It needs to be heightened.'
