Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to Secret Service officials Tuesday saying that a whistleblower is claiming the agency is hiding information about the protection afforded Donald Trump and that—despite two assassination attempts—he’s still not getting maximum protection.
The senator said that the whistleblower directly contradicts the official message coming from the government:
The letter to USSS Director Ronald Rowe and DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari alleges a whistleblower’s claims that government auditors are being denied access to certain Trump campaign events in an effort to hide these apparent protection shortfalls for the former president.
“You of course have publicly stated that former President Trump is receiving ‘the highest level of Secret Service protection’ and that ‘he’s getting everything.’ This new whistleblower information troublingly contradicts your public statements,” Hawley wrote in his letter to Rowe.
🚨🚨 NEW tonight – An internal Secret Service whistleblower alleges that USSS leadership is denying government auditors access to certain Trump events to conceal the fact he is still not getting maximum protection 👇 pic.twitter.com/7y4zRjxXbG
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) October 9, 2024
Hawley continued, alleging that the Service is actively trying to keep pertinent information hidden:
In his letter to Cuffari, Hawley said the new whistleblower allegations say “Secret Service headquarters blocked several of your auditors from accessing recent Trump campaign events.”
“The Secret Service whistleblower alleges that the denial was in order to hide the fact that the former president is not receiving a consistent level of protective assets for all of his engagements,” Hawley wrote. “[Y]ou should be aware of these allegations, which indicate that the Secret Service is not in fact cooperating with your auditors and is instead painting a false picture.”
BREAKING: A new whistleblower alleges that Secret Service STILL isn’t providing President Trump with full protection.
And they’re trying to conceal it from the government’s own auditors. What is going on here?? pic.twitter.com/L10XjhNEhW
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) October 9, 2024
The failures of the Secret Service have been so stunning—especially at the Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally in July where the shooter roamed around for hours and even flew a reconnaissance drone; meanwhile, audience members spotted the gunman well in advance and were shouting out his location to authorities. The fact that a rooftop with a clear sightline to the former president was left unguarded is mind-boggling.
If Hawley’s whistleblower is right, things look even worse for the once-vaunted agency. First, they were exposed as incompetent; now, it would appear they’re engaged in a cover-up as well.
The takeaway: we need a new commander-in-chief, one who will take control of agencies like these and demand excellence and accountability. That person is definitely not Kamala Harris.
