Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) said he has been contacted by “multiple whistleblowers” who allege that former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last weekend was a “lax” security event. release It was released on Friday.
“A whistleblower with direct knowledge of this incident contacted my office,” Hawley wrote. “According to the complaint, the July 13 rally was considered a ‘low-security’ event.”
The Missouri senator said he had written a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding an explanation for security failings by the Secret Service following an incident at a rally that allegedly allowed a gunman to climb onto a roof and fire shots straight at President Trump.
Hawley argued that sniffer dogs were not used to monitor entry to the event venue and detect threats in the “normal way”.
“Individuals were able to gain access backstage without the proper credentials,” Hawley said. “Law enforcement personnel were not adequately securing the security buffer zone around the podium or consistently positioned around the event’s security perimeter.”
Hawley, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, opened a whistleblower hotline in his office this week and promised that calls with tips would remain anonymous.
Senator Hawley joined his Republican colleagues in condemning the shooting and demanding clarity on why it happened in the first place.
The shooting left the former president wounded in one ear, one rally attendee dead and two seriously injured. The shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, died after opening fire.
The sloping roof of the building Crooks climbed had a “safety factor” factored into it, so officers were inside the building rather than on it, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Tuesday.
Cheatle has rejected growing calls to resign, and confirmed on Friday that he plans to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.
President Biden has ordered an independent investigation into the security at the rally, and he said the FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General also announced Wednesday that it had opened an investigation into how the Secret Service handled security at the event.
