Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) provided details on what whistleblowers have revealed to him regarding the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, in which the Secret Service may have failed to properly secure the area Trump was in.
The former president was golfing with some friends at the Trump National Golf Club when gunshots were heard, with suspect Ryan Wesley Routh arrested by law enforcement shortly after. Hawley revealed that his office had been told by whistleblowers that the Secret Service has guarded the golf course Trump was playing on “many, many times,” and that the agency’s protocol requires agents to guard areas that are known vulnerabilities.”
“I want to emphasize that the service has guarded this course many times; they know where there are vulnerabilities, 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 strange, that’s out of protocol,’” Hawley said on Fox News’s Jesse Watters Primetime. “It’s not even clear Secret Service swept the perimeter before Trump took to the course; also a breach, rather, of protocol, and they want to know why, and so do I. I think the Secret Service deserves to give us answers.”
Sunday’s assassination attempt marked the second time in about two months that someone has tried to kill the former president, with Hawley stating that the Secret Service has yet to provide evidence requested by Congressional investigators. He accused the agency of “stonewalling” the information needed for this investigation and said that it needed to “level with the American people.”
Trump’s first assassination attempt occurred at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Hawley said the Secret Service failed to fulfill their duty in securing the area. He noted how local law enforcement has been “extremely upset” for the Secret Service avoiding responsibility by blaming the locals for the lack of security.
“All I can say is this: when for two months, you won’t answer questions in public, you won’t give congressional investigators any documents or evidence, you won’t comply with the most basic request for information, that raises a lot of troubling questions,” Hawley said. “It’s a stonewall, Jesse. That’s all there is to it. This is stonewalling at this point. I don’t know why they’re stonewalling, but it can’t be good, and it’s time for them to come clean.”
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The most recent assassination attempt has prompted a number of investigations, including one by the state of Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) explained he did not believe it is in “the best interest” to have the same federal agencies “seeking to prosecute” the victim in this assassination attempt leading the investigation.
In the wake of the assassination attempt, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Trump’s 2024 running mate, revealed he had not requested additional Secret Service. He also warned that another assassination attempt on Trump cannot be allowed to happen, as a successful assassination would do irreparable damage to the country.