Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called for the suspension of the Secret Service’s “inexperienced” lead field agent at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
Hawley wrote in a letter to Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Lowe on Monday: I have written Multiple whistleblowers told the White House that the “lead field agent” for President Trump’s rally in Butler lacked “competence and experience in the role” and “made decisions that could jeopardize overall security” that day.
Hawley added that the whistleblower’s allegations were “particularly disturbing” because Rowe had previously said the agent was “still active” in the field.
“The new whistleblower allegations received by my office directly call into question the decisions of the lead Secret Service agent on the ground who was primarily responsible for providing security for the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania,” Hawley said in the letter. “These allegations suggest that the lead agent on the ground failed to implement proper security procedures.”
“This is particularly disturbing because in your testimony on July 30 you stated that these agents are ‘still active … they are still conducting custodial visits,'” Hawley added.
🚨🚨 NEW – A whistleblower claims that the lead agent on the ground in charge of the Butler rally was known to be inexperienced, incompetent and unfit for the job, failing to enforce basic security protocols on the day, yet this person is still on the job. Why? 👇 pic.twitter.com/EhfUSCvnJ0
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) August 6, 2024
Hawley explained that one of the whistleblowers told his office that the lead field agent was “well known among campaign personnel to lack the competency and experience for the role.”
A whistleblower with direct knowledge of the incident alleges to my office that the lead agent at the field was well known among campaign personnel for lacking competency and experience in the job. This specific allegation follows similar public reports that the agent was “new” to the local field office and “relatively inexperienced.” The whistleblower alleges that this individual was specifically responsible for line of sight issues as part of the field security.
The Missouri senator added that a different whistleblower had alleged to his office that “the lead agent on site personally made a decision that compromised the security of the entire event,” noting that “items such as flags” were placed around the stage and catwalk despite potentially affecting the agents’ “visibility.”
“Another whistleblower disclosed to my office that the on-site manager personally made decisions that jeopardized the safety of the entire event,” Hawley wrote.
First, campaign items such as flags were allowed around the stage and catwalk used by the former president, even though they are normally banned because they could affect the visibility of investigators responsible for identifying threats.
Hawley added that the whistleblower alleged that the Secret Service “did not check identification when issuing credentials authorizing access to restricted areas of the venue” and that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents “told election officials that they had never staffed the rally.”
“I am asking that the lead agent in the field be immediately suspended from all Secret Service duties while these allegations are investigated,” Hawley continued.
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