Former President Donald Trump was repeatedly denied additional security resources and personnel by now-Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe in the two years leading up to his July 13, 2024, attempted assassination, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The insiders told Real Clear Politics that the Secret Service rejected Trump’s requests for more security detail, including counter snipers, at his many rallies over the past several years.
At the time, Kim Cheatle was in charge of the Secret Service with Rowe assisting her; however, Rowe has taken over as Acting Director following Cheatle’s resignation. It is alleged that Cheatle and Rowe worked together to deny Trump’s requests for additional magnetometers at venue entrances, as well as extra agents and other resources needed to maintain security at the former president’s large-scale rallies, many of which were held outdoors.
According to these sources, Rowe made the decision to deny counter sniper teams at all Trump events outside of Washington D.C.’s driving distance on his own. In the coming days, Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate will have to testify before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security and Government Affairs committees over these allegations.
Both sides of the political aisle in Congress are demanding answers regarding this situation. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is among the growing number of Democrats planning to question Rowe and Abbate about what he described as the “litany of gaps and failures” that occurred at Trump’s Butler, Penn., rally.
These are monumental, critical questions that so far the leadership in these two agencies have failed to answer [for, and] even to begin to respond to,” Blumenthal commented about the Secret Service and FBI.
During last week’s committee hearings on the Butler incident, Rowe cooperated with various senators’ questions, impressing Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis. However, since learning what inside sources had to say about Rowe and Cheatle’s deliberate denial of additional protective detail for Trump, Johnson has even more questions for Rowe at the next hearing.
I will also hold him fully accountable for being 100 percent transparent and honest in cooperating with our investigation and oversight,” promised Johnson.
While there is a limited number of highly trained Uniform Division officers capable of providing counter sniper support, this could explain Rowe’s insistence that they only attend Trump rallies within close proximity to the nation’s capital where they are all based. As one Secret Service source explained, “It’s easier for counter sniper teams to carry their guns and gear in a van they can all use to transport the teams to the site for advance work for the event and then use the same vehicles, referred to by the Secret Service as ‘push vehicles,’ to return to D.C.
Despite these challenges, Trump continues to hold rallies and remain active politically. Stay up-to-date on his latest moves at Trump.news.