US Secret Service (USSS) denied requests for additional resources and manpower to protect former president Donald Trump, a damning report in the Washington Post has claimed. After initially denying such claims in the immediate aftermath of the July 13 assassination attempt, USSS has now admitted that certain requesters by Trump’s team were turned down in the last two years.
The ex-president’s team had requested for more agents and magnetometers at large public events he attended, as well as extra snipers for outdoor venues.
The repeated rejections led to long-standing tensions between Trump, his top aides and his security detail against Secret Service leadership, the report added.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service admitted that new information had surfaced indicating that the agency’s headquarters may have in fact denied requests for additional security from Trump’s detail.
“The Secret Service has a vast, challenging, and intricate mission. Every day we work in a dynamic threat environment to ensure our protectees are safe and secure across multiple events, travel, and other difficult environments,” said Guglielmi.
“We execute a comprehensive and layered strategy to balance personnel, technology, and specialised operational needs.”
Secret Service’s previous version
Notably, quizzed after the assassination bid on Trump, Guglielmi had outrightly quashed the reports of denying security to the Republican leader.
“The assertion that a member of the former president’s security team requested additional security resources that the US Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security rebuffed is absolutely false,” he said at the time.
Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle is under pressure from all quarters to tender her resignation for failing to protect Trump. Cheatle, however, has refused to step down but will testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday (Jul 22) regarding the failures.
Thomas Crooks, the shooter who took aim at Trump was merely 130 metres away from the former president and managed to compose himself on the roof of the building without any fuss.
The Secret Service agents did not spot him till he had fired multiple rounds and only neutralised him after Trump suffered a bullet wound on his right ear while a rallygoer was killed.
Source: wionnews
