On Thursday, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) revealed that a Secret Service whistleblower has accused Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe of making cuts to personnel who could have helped prevent an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. The whistleblower also alleges there was retaliation against those within the Secret Service who expressed concerns about security at Trump events.
In a letter addressed to Rowe on August 1, Hawley stated that the whistleblower claims the agency’s Counter Surveillance Division (CSD) did not perform its typical evaluation of the site for Trump’s July 13 campaign rally and was not present at the event. This is significant because CSD’s duties include evaluating potential security threats outside the security perimeter and mitigating those threats during the event. The whistleblower alleges that if personnel from CSD had been present at the rally, the gunman would have been handcuffed in the parking lot after being spotted with a rangefinder.
Hawley also noted that the whistleblower claimed that CSD could have flagged or mitigated the risk of leaving the building where a shooter fired at Trump from outside the Secret Service’s perimeter. The letter further stated that the whistleblower alleges Rowe “personally directed significant cuts to CSD,” which included reducing the division’s manpower by 20 percent, and that Rowe did not mention this during his testimony to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday.
Additionally, Hawley said the whistleblower alleged retaliation against those within the Secret Service who expressed concern about security at Trump events. Following an event with the former President at a golf tournament in August of last year, Secret Service personnel present expressed serious concerns that the Secret Service’s use of local law enforcement was not adequate for security needs, as local law enforcement were not properly trained for the event or otherwise prepared to execute the tasks given them. Furthermore, Secret Service personnel expressed alarm that individuals were admitted to the event without vetting. The whistleblower alleges that those who raised such concerns were retaliated against.
Hawley asked Rowe for all records by August 8 relating to policy and personnel changes made to the CSD, his personal involvement in changing or revising those policies, as well as the number of Secret Service agents facing disciplinary actions after raising concerns about Secret Service security practices. Hawley additionally sought the exact breakdown of Secret Service personnel at the July 13 rally by division or unit.