Exclusive: A former Green Beret appointed to the House Select Committee investigating the assassination attempt on former President Trump has questioned whether U.S. Secret Service leaders repeatedly rejected requests for increased security due to funding concerns.
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) told Fox News Digital that sources within the USSS are “unhappy” with its leadership, including its handling of the fallout from President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
Waltz said he was told Trump received a normal level of security for a former president, but suggested that USSS leadership was hesitant to grant requests for increased security during his entire campaign as a major party candidate for reelection.
“That was the initial tone I heard. Executives didn’t say it explicitly, but the tone and the tone that was coming back was, ‘We’re not going to blow our budget. We’re not going to spend extra overtime, extra travel, extra agents and extra resources so that Trump can have a rally every week,'” Waltz said. “That was the message they got.”
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Republican candidate Donald Trump, blood streaming from his face, is surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is escorted off stage during a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
“If that’s the case, it’s very politicized and very dangerous. If they needed more money, they should have asked Congress for it, because you have a very active former president who, by the way, is also a candidate.”
“You can’t just follow normal operating procedure with, say, Jimmy Carter in a nursing home. So I’m really interested in getting to the bottom of how this happened.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the USSS for comment.
Waltz told Fox News Digital that he is also interested in examining whether the financial aid issue led to other potential incidents with Trump during the House investigation, which Waltz said is one of “three groups” of information he wants to explore.
Video taken from the perspective of the victim of the Trump assassination attempt shows a figure moving across a rooftop moments before the shooting
Rep. Michael Walz (R-Fla.) is one of 13 House members who serve on a bipartisan committee investigating the Trump shooting. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“Investigators say he was a staunch supporter of Jimmy Carter and [George W. Bush]”Well, he’s clearly not your average former president, and they’re telling me he’s been repeatedly denied additional funding,” Walz said.
“And have there been any other close calls? Like, have there been any other significant breaches or security incidents at his residence?”
A 20-year-old gunman opened fire at a Trump rally on July 13 from a rooftop just outside the venue’s security perimeter, killing one rally attendee and wounding two others. The former president was shot in the ear and had to be hastily evacuated by USSS agents.
The incident prompted multiple investigations into security failures that day, including several by Congress, and its aftermath forced the resignation of former USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle, who was replaced by Acting Director Ronald Lowe.
According to multiple reports, the Trump campaign requested increased security at various events last month before the shooting at the rally but was denied due to a lack of funds.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appointed the task force as part of a bipartisan effort. (Getty Images)
USSS spokesman Anthony Guglielmi did not dispute these reports in a statement to The Washington Post in late July.
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“The Secret Service’s mission is broad, dynamic and complex. Every day we operate in a dynamic threat environment to ensure the safety and security of our protectors during a wide variety of events, travel and other challenging environments. We execute a comprehensive, layered strategy to balance people, technology and specialized operational needs,” he said.
“Where specific specialized Secret Service units or resources were not provided, agencies have made changes to ensure the safety of their protected subjects, including utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized capabilities or identifying alternatives to reduce protected subjects’ exposure to the public.”
