Following the conclusion of the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Secret Service had "little resources" to cover the Saturday campaign rally where former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated, whistleblowers told Congress.
According to the New York Post, the whistleblowers told the House Judiciary Committee that Secret Service special agent in charge Tim Burke revealed the lapse at a meeting with the FBI, Western Pennsylvania Fusion Center, and other law enforcement agencies on July 8.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss security needs for Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as well as first lady Jill Biden's Pittsburgh campaign event for her husband's reelection bid that same day.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday to notify him of the whistleblowers' allegations.
"Law enforcement overlooked a number of vulnerabilities prior to and during the event, allowing an assassin to shoot a President, murder an attendee, and critically wound two others," Jordan wrote. "This tragedy demands a full and transparent investigation."
Jordan also reminded Wray that FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate promised a "rapid" investigation of the assassination attempt with "maximum transparency."
In a statement, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the agency "cannot comment on matters related to an ongoing investigation at this time."
"We of course are committed to working with the appropriate and relevant investigations of what happened on July 13, including with Congress, the Inspector General, and both internal and independent reviews," he added.
Law enforcement sources told the Post on Wednesday that Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire on Trump's event at least 10 minutes after being labeled a "threat."
In addition to being briefed about the warning on Crooks, congressional lawmakers were also told during Wednesday briefings with FBI and Secret Service officials that he had been considered a "character of suspicion" for over an hour before pulling the trigger.
Trump's right ear was grazed and former fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed shielding his family from the attack. David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, sustained critical injuries but were reportedly stable as of Sunday.
The countersniper team comprised of Butler police officers that was stationed inside the AGR International Inc. building failed to detect Crooks on the factory's roof, which was 130 yards away from the rally.
A local officer who confronted Crooks just before he opened fire retreated and fell from the rooftop after the gunman turned and pointed his AR-style semi-automatic rifle at him.
Cheatle's explanation for why the roof of the manufacturing plant was not secured also enraged former law enforcement officers who spoke with the Post.
"That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point, and so, there's a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn't want to put somebody up on a sloped roof," Cheatle said in an interview with ABC News.
"And so, the decision was made to secure the building from inside," she said.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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