Was the second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump preventable? A whistleblower is the latest to say yes — and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri wants answers.
According to a letter from Hawley to the acting director of the Secret Service last week, the whistleblower has “direct knowledge of Secret Service protection” where attempted assassin Ryan Routh was allegedly able to lie in wait for hours with a firearm before his detection.
In the letter, Hawley said that, if true, protocols stipulated that Routh “should never have been able to linger around the course for that long undetected.”
“My office has received new whistleblower information regarding the most recent attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump, raising troubling questions about Secret Service protocols on that day,” the Wednesday letter read.
“A whistleblower with direct knowledge of Secret Service protection at former President Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach — an individual who has in fact protected President Trump at that very location — alleges there are ‘ known vulnerabilities’ in the fence line surrounding the course: places that offer a clear line of sight to the former president and others playing a course.
“As a a result, the whistleblower alleges it has been Secret Service protocol to ‘post up’ agents at these vulnerable spots when Trump visits the course. That apparently did not happen on September 15 [when the attempt was made]. Instead, the gunman was permitted to remain along or near the fence line for some 12 hours.
“It is further unclear from your recent press conference whether agents swept the perimeter of the golf course at any point, or whether drones were used to surveil the fence line,” Hawley added in the letter. “The reality is that the would-be assassin should never have been able to linger around the course for that long undetected.”
He asked acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe to answer several questions pertaining to its usual procedures regarding “post[ing] up” at known vulnerabilities at Trump National Golf Course, whether the site was swept prior to the president’s arrival, and whether drone technology was used to police the site, among other things.
🚨🚨 NEW WHISTLEBLOWER allegations – this time about the latest attempt on Trump’s life. Whistleblower alleges Secret Service apparently failed to account for “known vulnerabilities” at Trump’s golf course. Shooter was able to lie in wait for 12 hours. What is the explanation? pic.twitter.com/8g9J1aFgog
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) September 19, 2024
Is the Secret Service failing to protect Trump?
In an appearance on Jesse Watters’ Fox News show after the letter was sent, Hawley noted that “the Secret Service has guarded that course many, many times.
“What the whistleblower says is, protocol calls for the Secret Service to station agents along the places in the course that are known vulnerabilities. I want to emphasize, the Service has guarded this course many times,” Hawley said. “They know where the vulnerabilities are.”
“They normally station agents there ahead of Trump’s appearance on the course, but they apparently did not do that this last weekend. And the whistleblowers tell me that’s strange. That’s out of protocol.
“It’s not even clear the Secret Service swept the perimeter before Trump took to the course, also a breach of protocol,” he continued. “They want to know why, and so do I. I think the Secret Service deserves to give us answers.”
EXCLUSIVE: New whistleblowers say @SecretService knew the vulnerabilities on the golf course where @realDonaldTrump was playing when he was almost killed. They usually have agents stationed there, but that day NO ONE was there. Whistleblowers tell @HawleyMO that protocol was not… pic.twitter.com/2wgokJej2Q
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) September 19, 2024
There are two interpretations of this — neither of them good. The first is that protocol was allowed to slip even after an attempt on Trump’s life just two months ago. That seems to be Hawley’s interpretation.
The other, put forth by other media sources, is that this protocol was never strictly adhered to — and they knew it because they were able to get photographs of Trump playing golf at the West Palm Beach course relatively easily.
The New York Post reported that numerous photographers, including those hired by the paper, “have had no problem repeatedly securing spots around the perimeter of the course to snap pictures of Trump playing golf or driving around in a golf cart.
“They have even taken images — which require a clear line of sight to the 45th president — unnoticed through the bushes with telephoto lenses. Some have gotten as close as 75 yards — without so much as a sideways glance from the Secret Service.”
The Post added that while photographers typically announce themselves to Secret Service agents, so that they know they’re press friendlies, a source said that the agents were fairly easy to evade.
“They’re always amazed how close they can get to Trump and his entourage — it’s easy for them,” the source said.
So this was either a one-time crucial lapse or a frequent crucial lapse — but it’s a lapse nonetheless, and one that could have cost the GOP nominee his life. Hawley, and America, deserves answers to this whistleblower’s allegations.
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