A federal whistleblower has alleged that the Secret Service's Counter Surveillance Division (CSD), which is responsible for threat assessments of event sites before an event occurs, was not present in Butler, Pennsylvania, on the day former President Donald Trump dodged an assassination attempt.
Further, the whistleblower claimed that Ronald Rowe Jr., the Secret Service's acting director following the resignation last week of Director Kimberly Cheatle, oversaw as deputy director significant cuts to the CSD, including reducing its manpower by 20%.
The whistleblower's claims were disclosed Thursday in a letter obtained by Newsmax to Rowe by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who has been among the congressional lawmakers leading the effort to uncover the security breakdowns on July 13, when gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks wounded Trump with a shot to the right ear, killed a spectator, and seriously injured two others.
Crooks fired from the rooftop of the American Glass Research facility about 130 yards away from where Trump was speaking before he was gunned down by a Secret Service countersniper.
Hawley and Rowe had a tense exchange during the acting director's testimony Tuesday in front of a joint hearing held by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs and Judiciary committees.
Hawley wrote that the whistleblower claimed if the CSD had been present at the rally, Crooks would have been arrested immediately once law enforcement spotted him with a range finder.
"You acknowledged in your Senate testimony that the American Glass Research complex should have been included in the security perimeter for the Butler event," Hawley wrote. "The whistleblower alleges that because CSD was not present in Butler, this manifest shortcoming was never properly flagged or mitigated.
"The whistleblower further alleges that you personally directed significant cuts to CSD, up to and including reducing the division's manpower by 20%. You did not mention this in your Senate testimony when asked directly to explain manpower reductions."
Hawley wrote the whistleblower claimed that following an event with Trump at a golf tournament in August 2023, "Secret Service personnel expressed serious concern that the Secret Service's use of local law enforcement was not adequate for security needs" and "were not properly trained for the event or otherwise prepared to execute the tasks given them."
Hawley wrote the whistleblower said those within the Secret Service who expressed concerns about Trump's safety faced retaliation.
Hawley requested from Rowe several documents to be delivered by Aug. 8, including records made during his time as deputy director in which policy and personnel changes were made to CSD, a breakdown of Secret Service personnel at the July 13 rally, and a list of the number of Secret Service agents who are facing disciplinary action for raising concerns about security practices.
In an email to Newsmax, Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service's chief of communications, wrote, "We respect the Senator and the role of oversight and will respond to the request through official channels."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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