Whistleblowers have alerted Congress that federal agents who were reassigned to protective candidate details, including former President Donald Trump, were “egregiously under-prepared” for their duties, with many merely being merely reassigned homeland security agents.
In an X post on Tuesday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) asserted that Homeland Security personnel were “thrown onto Trump’s protective detail with nothing more than a 2-hour online training” at the July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a 20-year-old man attempted to assassinate the former president.
“Think about this: This former president of the US…is sent out on stage, most of the people there are not trained, they’re not qualified. They only got a webinar training and even that didn’t work.” Hawley said during a recent Fox News appearance.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe received a letter from Hawley on Tuesday that detailed new allegations regarding Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) agents who collaborate with the Secret Service.
“When Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents partner with the Secret Service, they should be properly trained. New whistleblower allegations contend that this isn’t happening…,” Hawley contended in the letter.
Rowe was requested by Hawley to furnish information regarding the number of HSI agents who attended the rally on July 13, the number of agents who were trained exclusively through the webinar, and the curriculum and training materials that were used.
The Secret Service’s handling of the Butler rally is still under investigation by lawmakers, as there are still concerns regarding the actual cause of the significant security failures that occurred that day.
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