Hawley stated that he is making the report public following a second attempt on Trump's life, which occurred yesterday while the former president was golfing at his Palm Beach course. The 22-page report outlines a series of lapses leading up to and during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump was speaking. During the event, a gunman was able to evade authorities and access the rooftop of a building approximately 150 yards from the stage. The shooter fired multiple shots, one of which grazed Trump’s ear. A spectator seated behind the stage was killed while shielding his family from the gunfire. Two others were injured in the incident. In the ongoing congressional investigation, the Secret Service, FBI, and DHS “have all tried to evade real accountability,” the report states. Hawley has accused federal law enforcement agencies of stalling the investigation and misleading the public. Since the attack, multiple whistleblowers from these agencies have come forward to share details with congressional officials about the systemic failures that allowed an assassination attempt to come so close to succeeding. Whistleblower testimony reveals “a compounding pattern of negligence, sloppiness, and gross incompetence that goes back years, all of which culminated in an assassination attempt that came inches from succeeding,” the report states. One of the key findings is the absence of the Secret Service’s Counter Surveillance Division, which typically assesses threats at event locations. Local law enforcement had offered to use drone technology to monitor the rally site, but Secret Service officials repeatedly declined, even though the shooter, Thomas Crooks, had used a drone to survey the area prior to the attack. The report also includes new information that had not been previously disclosed:Sen. Josh Hawley has released a whistleblower report revealing significant operational failures by the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in connection with the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump.
Despite the whistleblower revelations, many questions remain, Hawley said, including:
In the wake of a second Trump assassination attempt in about two months, the release of the report is likely to intensify scrutiny of federal law enforcement agencies and their preparedness to protect high-profile political figures.
