The United States Secret Service acknowledged it had "limited resources" during briefings held before the July 13 Trump rally in Pennsylvania at which an attempted assassination occurred, according to whistleblower disclosures to the House Judiciary Committee.
The admitted lack of necessary resources, according to the whistleblowers, was due to the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., that took place before the rally from July 9 through July 11.
"Whistleblowers have disclosed to the Committee that the USSS led two briefings regarding the July 13 campaign rally on July 8, 2024, with the Western Pennsylvania Fusion Center (WPFC) and other stakeholders, to discuss the upcoming, unrelated visits by President Trump and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden," a July 18 Judiciary Committee letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed.
🚨 #BREAKING: Whistleblowers reveal security failures at Trump rally 🚨 pic.twitter.com/vgXih4onW2
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) July 18, 2024
"The USSS Special Agent in Charge Tim Burke reportedly told law enforcement partners that the USSS had limited resources that week because the agency was covering the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Washington, D.C.," the letter continued. "FBI personnel were present at those briefings."
"While the Committee recognizes that the FBI is one of many agencies represented in the WPFC, it is the lead federal investigative arm and a key source of intelligence on potential threats for special events in its area of responsibility," the Judiciary Committee emphasized.
Lawmakers also instructed Wray be "prepared to fully address all questions" in his upcoming testimony on Capitol Hill:
The Committee has several unanswered questions about the failures that led to the attempted assassination of a president—the first in over forty years—as well as the FBI's ability to conduct a rapid, transparent, and thorough investigation in the wake of its recent scandals. Accordingly, to ensure that the Committee can effectively evaluate these matters during your testimony on July 24, 2024, we request that you be prepared to fully address all questions about the attempted assassination of President Trump and the FBI's investigation of it.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle still refuses to entertain any talk of responsibility for the significant and nearly catastrophic security failure that saw former President Donald Trump shot, one of his rally attendees killed, and two other supporters critically wounded. She also refuses to consider stepping down, according to the USSS spokesperson:
"... She deeply respects members of Congress and is fiercely committed to transparency in leading the Secret Service through the internal investigation and strengthening the agency through lessons learned in these important internal and external reviews.” (2/2) #SecretService
— Edward Lawrence (@EdwardLawrence) July 18, 2024
This is a developing story and may be updated.