While there were more questions than answers on Monday about the second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump in 64 days, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley (MO) released a damning whistleblower report on the condemnable failures of the U.S. Secret Service and Homeland Security Department that led to the July 13 shooting that came within millimeters taking Trump's life.
Hawley, having found 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," shared the report with the House Task Force on the Attempted Assassination to supplement its investigation. He also said:
On July 13, 2024, former President Donald J. Trump was nearly killed by an assassin’s bullet while hosting a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Secret Service failed to prevent it," the Hawley report states. "It was the most stunning breakdown in presidential security since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan."
The senator, who currently serves on four Senate committees, including Judiciary and Homeland Security, also announced his release of the whistleblower report on X.
Following the latest assassination attempt on @realDonaldTrump, I’m releasing a comprehensive Whistleblower Report on the multiple failures of Secret Service & DHS - including new allegations & numerous unanswered questions due to USSS stonewalling.
Stonewalling, indeed.
According to Hawley's release, the report is "highly damaging to the credibility of the Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security."
Among the report's most shocking findings:
Almost worse, Hawley said the Secret Service, FBI, and DHS "have all tried to evade real accountability."
The report further states:
These agencies and their leaders have slow-walked congressional investigations, misled the American people, and shirked responsibility. The resulting findings are highly damaging to the credibility of the Secret Service and DHS.
It gets worse. The report also found:
Kimberly Cheatle, who was the director of the Secret Service at the time of the rally, resigned amid mounting pressure from congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle after the massive security failure.
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I don't want to be flippant here, but to paraphrase an old saying, with "friends" like the Secret Service and DHS, Donald Trump doesn't need enemies.