On Friday, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) reported new details about the Secret Service failure that nearly cost Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump his life.
Hawley’s new whistleblower tip line – opened in response to the Secret Service’s secrecy regarding its botched effort to protect former President Donald Trump from a would-be assassin’s bullet last Saturday – appears to be paying off.
“Whistleblowers who have direct knowledge of the event have approached my office. According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a ‘loose’ security event,” Sen. Hawley says in a statement released Friday.
The whistleblowers allege several Secret Service security missteps:
In light of the allegations, Hawley (R-Mo.), wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, demanding answers to seven questions:
- How did DHS determine to staff the event, including any decision to rely on state or local officers?
- What percentage of the DHS agents at the event were from HSI rather than USSS? Were a majority of officers at the event drawn from HSI or other DHS components, rather than USSS? If so, why?
- Were HSI agents properly trained in staffing these types of events?
- Did gaps exist in the security perimeter, and were the usual protocols followed for the use of canines and magnetometers?
- Were agents not appropriately stationed around the podium?
- Were the standard protocols followed for issuing designated pins to vetted personnel that are allowed backstage?
- How long did agents physically spend on the ground surveying the site before the event? Did any paperwork obligations prevent a longer and more robust site survey?
Senator Hawley is a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee which conducts oversight of Secretary Mayorkas’ DHS.
On Wednesday, Hawley announced the launch of an anonymous whistleblower tip line within his office, in an effort “to shed light on last Saturday’s disastrous security breach.”
Any whistleblowers seeking to contact the senator's office to make protected disclosures should call (202) 224-6154 or email tips to: tips@hawley.senate.gov.