Republican Sen. Josh Hawley released a wide-ranging report Monday morning detailing Secret Service missteps surrounding the first assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July, including new whistleblower allegations that “do significant damage to the credibility” of the agency.
Rep. Hawley (R-MO) filed the report to supplement the House Task Force investigation into the assassination attempt on Donald J. Trump.
Hawley found that “years of negligence, sloppiness and gross incompetence had accumulated to a nearly successful assassination attempt.”
“On July 13, 2024, former President Donald J. Trump was nearly shot dead by an assassin while hosting a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the United States Secret Service failed to prevent it,” the Hawley report states. “This was the most shocking breakdown in presidential security since the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan.”
Trump blames Biden-Harris 'comments' for latest assassination attempt, says they'll 'save the country'
Former President Trump was injured in an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Hawley said the Secret Service, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security “have all attempted to avoid any real accountability.”
“These agencies and their leaders have delayed congressional investigations, misled the American public, and avoided accountability,” the report said.
Following two assassination attempts on President Trump in just over two months, Hawley traveled to a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, to question a whistleblower and open a whistleblower tip line, urging people with relevant information to share it with authorities.
“The findings of this investigation severely undermine the credibility of the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security,” the report said. “They reveal a long history of negligence, sloppiness, and gross incompetence, all of which led to an assassination attempt that nearly succeeded.”
The whistleblower provided Hawley with valuable information, including that the Secret Service's countersurveillance division, which conducts threat assessments of event venues, did not conduct its standard assessment of the Butler venue and was not on site on the day of the rally.
Hawley also learned that Secret Service agents “repeated offers from local law enforcement partners to deploy drone technology, even though the assassin had used a drone to survey the rally site just hours before the assassination attempt.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) told Jesse Watters he has been in contact with a whistleblower about the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump. (Getty Images/Fox News)
Hawley also learned that the Secret Service's Office of Security Operations and Personnel had instructed agents responsible for security at the rally “not to request additional security resources because they would be denied.”
Trump assassination attempt: Whistleblower claims security was 'grossly unprepared'
The report also outlines the whistleblower's allegations, including that law enforcement officials “abandoned” the rooftop where would-be assassin Thomas Crooks plotted to kill Trump “due to hot weather.”
The report also said Secret Service personnel responsible for security at the facility, including “visibility concerns,” were “known to be incompetent.”
“Their incompetence resulted in flags and other items being placed around Butler's stage and catwalk, reducing visibility,” the report said.
The whistleblower also told Hawley that Department of Homeland Security personnel were used to fill in for Secret Service personnel shortfalls on the day of the rally, some of whom were reportedly removed from child exploitation cases, and that their training “was little more than a poorly-conducted two-hour webinar,” according to the whistleblower.
Meanwhile, Hawley's report revealed that the lead agent in charge of Butler's rallies “failed a key exam during his federal law enforcement training to become a Secret Service agent.”
Hawley was also told that the Secret Service's intelligence unit, a team of Secret Service agents who work with state and local law enforcement agencies to respond to reports of suspicious persons, was absent from Butler's rally.
The whistleblower also told Hawley that the hospital grounds where Trump was treated after the shooting were “inadequately secured and hospital officials were unable to answer basic questions about security on the grounds.”
Kimberly Cheatle, who was director of the Secret Service at the time of the rally, resigned amid growing pressure from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle following the massive security failure.
Secret Service Deputy Director Michael Plati is also retiring.
At least five Secret Service agents have been placed on administrative leave since the July assassination attempt.
Republican candidate Donald Trump was photographed being escorted off stage during a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, with blood running down his face and surrounded by Secret Service agents. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump was hit above his right ear by Crooks' bullet, and the former president raised his arms defiantly as Secret Service agents led him away, blood dripping from his cheek and right ear.
The next day, Trump traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to attend the 2024 Republican National Convention. He attended events every night of the convention, and on the final night, he formally accepted the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Hawley released his report just one day after the second assassination attempt on President Trump.
President Trump was playing golf at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday when Secret Service agents spotted another would-be assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, on the green, allegedly pointing an AK-47 at the former president and began firing.
Routh was seen laughing and smiling before his first court appearance in Florida on Monday following his arrest, Fox News reported.
He was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and Fox News reported that additional federal charges are possible.
A first offense carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and supervised release. A repeat offense carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and supervised release. When asked if he understood the penalties, Rouse said, “Yes.”
Trump claims he was 'shot by a bullet' in assassination attempt at Pennsylvania rally
Fox News has been told additional federal charges are possible. The initial indictment announced Monday will mean Routh will remain in custody.
A detention hearing is scheduled for Sept. 23, and an indictment hearing is scheduled for Sept. 30.
Trump International Golf Club is pictured here on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Lynn Sladky)
Routh had at least 100 run-ins with police before his latest arrest.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, following the second assassination attempt since July, Trump said “comments” from President Biden and Vice President Harris were what prompted him to “shoot” and told Fox News Digital that the suspect was “acting on” the Democrats' “very inflammatory words.”
“He believed Biden and Harris at their word and he acted on it,” Trump said of the shooter in an interview with Fox News Digital. “They shot me because of their words, but I'm in a position to save our country. They're destroying our country from the inside out.”
Click here to get the FOX News app
Trump pointed to past comments by Biden and Harris in which they described him as a “threat to democracy” and told Americans they were leaders of “unity.”
“They are the exact opposite,” Trump said. “They are people who want to destroy our country.”
“This is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat,” he added.
