Secret Service Denies Trump Security: Safety Concerns Raised
Submitted by MAGA
Posted 48 days ago
The Secret Service reportedly denied requests for additional security at Trump events, leading to concerns about the former president's safety.
According to four individuals familiar with the requests, top officials at the U.S. Secret Service repeatedly denied requests for more resources and personnel sought by Donald Trump's security detail in the two years leading up to the attempted assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday.
Agents charged with protecting the former president requested magnetometers and more agents to screen attendees at sporting events and other large public gatherings Trump attended, as well as additional snipers and specialty teams at other outdoor events. However, the requests were sometimes denied by senior officials at the agency, who cited various reasons, including a lack of resources at an agency that has long struggled with staffing shortages.
The Secret Service is currently responsible for security details for more than two dozen people, most of them requiring full-time security and a few others receiving what is informally called "door-to-door" protection from the moment they leave their homes. Protectees include the president and vice president and their families, as well as former presidents, candidates, and a growing number of senior administration officials.
Bill Gage, a former Secret Service agent who served on presidential protection and counterassault teams during the Bush and Obama administrations, said the agency is always drowning in far more requests and events than it can possibly handle with its hiring limits, and that leads to headquarters denying requests even more frequently during the busy campaign season.
"I hate to dumb it down this much, but it is a simple case of supply and demand. The requests get turned down routinely," Gage said. "A director has to finally come forward to say we are way understaffed and we cannot possibly continue with this zero fail mission without a significantly bigger budget."
The Service's Office of Protective Operations reviews security requests for events, and as part of a regular push-and-pull, it sometimes reconsiders initial denials after being persuaded the risk justifies the expense, officials have said. However, it must balance the reality that each agent, countersniper, or magnetometer assigned to cover one event reduces what is available for other people the Service protects.
None of the denied requests that The Post reviewed related to the Pennsylvania rally. However, one of the denials that most concerned Trump officials came as he held a rally in South Carolina in July 2023, one of the first large-scale events of his current campaign. Trump was speaking in a downtown square in Pickens, a small town 20 miles west of Greenville, at a site surrounded by commercial and residential buildings. People familiar with the request said that Trump's security team asked for more countersnipers to be stationed on rooftops to guard against potential shooters or other attacks.
People around Trump were also concerned by what they feared was an insufficient number of magnetometers and security personnel at rallies, they said, including one in 2023 in Macomb, Michigan, where some attendees jumped over bike racks to get past security and were restrained by local police, according to people close to Trump who witnessed the episode.
On Thursday, Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita called for Cheatle to resign, as have a number of lawmakers in both parties. During the convention, several Republican senators chased Cheatle through the arena in Milwaukee, where she had traveled to brief them on the investigation. The senators screamed at her after she declined to answer questions about the attempted assassination.
Sources:
twitchy.com
amgreatness.com
webcache.googleusercontent.comwashingtonpost.com
According to four individuals familiar with the requests, top officials at the U.S. Secret Service repeatedly denied requests for more resources and personnel sought by Donald Trump's security detail in the two years leading up to the attempted assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday.
Agents charged with protecting the former president requested magnetometers and more agents to screen attendees at sporting events and other large public gatherings Trump attended, as well as additional snipers and specialty teams at other outdoor events. However, the requests were sometimes denied by senior officials at the agency, who cited various reasons, including a lack of resources at an agency that has long struggled with staffing shortages.
The Secret Service is currently responsible for security details for more than two dozen people, most of them requiring full-time security and a few others receiving what is informally called "door-to-door" protection from the moment they leave their homes. Protectees include the president and vice president and their families, as well as former presidents, candidates, and a growing number of senior administration officials.
Bill Gage, a former Secret Service agent who served on presidential protection and counterassault teams during the Bush and Obama administrations, said the agency is always drowning in far more requests and events than it can possibly handle with its hiring limits, and that leads to headquarters denying requests even more frequently during the busy campaign season.
"I hate to dumb it down this much, but it is a simple case of supply and demand. The requests get turned down routinely," Gage said. "A director has to finally come forward to say we are way understaffed and we cannot possibly continue with this zero fail mission without a significantly bigger budget."
The Service's Office of Protective Operations reviews security requests for events, and as part of a regular push-and-pull, it sometimes reconsiders initial denials after being persuaded the risk justifies the expense, officials have said. However, it must balance the reality that each agent, countersniper, or magnetometer assigned to cover one event reduces what is available for other people the Service protects.
None of the denied requests that The Post reviewed related to the Pennsylvania rally. However, one of the denials that most concerned Trump officials came as he held a rally in South Carolina in July 2023, one of the first large-scale events of his current campaign. Trump was speaking in a downtown square in Pickens, a small town 20 miles west of Greenville, at a site surrounded by commercial and residential buildings. People familiar with the request said that Trump's security team asked for more countersnipers to be stationed on rooftops to guard against potential shooters or other attacks.
People around Trump were also concerned by what they feared was an insufficient number of magnetometers and security personnel at rallies, they said, including one in 2023 in Macomb, Michigan, where some attendees jumped over bike racks to get past security and were restrained by local police, according to people close to Trump who witnessed the episode.
On Thursday, Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita called for Cheatle to resign, as have a number of lawmakers in both parties. During the convention, several Republican senators chased Cheatle through the arena in Milwaukee, where she had traveled to brief them on the investigation. The senators screamed at her after she declined to answer questions about the attempted assassination.
Sources:
twitchy.com
amgreatness.com
webcache.googleusercontent.comwashingtonpost.com
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