Butler Township leaders react to Sen. Hawley's whistleblower report on Trump assassination attempt
BUTLER TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) — Leaders in Butler Township are reacting to a whistleblower report released by Sen. Josh Hawley on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in July.
In his report, Hawley said there are still a lot of unanswered questions, and the United States Secret Service, FBI and Department of Homeland Security are stonewalling. The report comes one day after a second apparent assassination attempt on Trump in Florida.
"This man has to keep walking around in public and always has to look over his shoulder that someone is going to try to take his life," Butler Township Commissioner Ed Natali said.
Hawley, a Missouri Republican, released the whistleblower report that he shared with the bipartisan congressional task force investigating the shooting at the rally in Butler Township on July 13.
What is in the whistleblower report?
"The whistleblowers allege the lead agent in charge of the entire Butler County visit, including the Trump rally, failed a key examination during their federal law enforcement training to become a Secret Service agent," the report said.
Also allegedly missing at the Trump rally were Secret Service intelligence units that work "with state and local law enforcement to handle reports of suspicious persons," according to the report, which added that Homeland Security personnel were used to fill in Secret Service shortages.
Some DHS agents were pulled off child exploitation cases and the training they received was "a poor quality, two-hour webinar," the report says.
The report alleges the hospital where Trump was treated after he was shot "was poorly secured," and the hospital site agent could not answer "basic questions about site security."
Report cites "systemic failure"
"This doesn't surprise me because it points to a systematic failure on the part of multiple people to properly prepare and plan for that event," Natali said.
Law enforcement flagged Thomas Matthew Crooks as suspicious more than 90 minutes before he climbed on top of the roof of the AGR building and fired eight shots, hitting Trump, killing Corey Comperatore and critically injuring two others. Crooks was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper.
Since the rally, at least five Secret Service agents have been put on leave, and Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned.
Meanwhile, as Trump promises to return to Butler County in October, Butler Township Manager Tom Knights is glad change is coming.
"I'm glad to see the investigation is producing some items to be corrected or look at some changes that need to be made," he said.
The whistleblower report alleges the Secret Service's Counter Surveillance Division, which performs threat assessments of event sites, did not perform a typical evaluation of the Butler site and was not present on the day of the rally.
Drone support declined, per whistleblower report
Senator Hawley also learned that Secret Service personnel "declined multiple offers from a local law enforcement partner to deploy drone technology, despite the fact that the would-be assassin used a drone to survey the rally site mere hours before the attempted assassination."
Hawley also learned that the Secret Service's Office of Protective Operations-Manpower told agents in charge of security for the rally "not to request additional security resources because they would be denied."
Other whistleblower allegations include law enforcement personnel "abandoned" the rooftop where would-be assassin Thomas Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump "because of hot weather."
The report also said the Secret Service agent with the responsibility of the security of the site, including "line-of-site concerns," was allegedly "known to be incompetent."
"That incompetence led to the placement of items like flags around the Butler stage and catwalk, impairing visibility," the report states.
A Secret Service spokesperson says the agency is aware of the report and will continue to work with committees in the House and Senate. The Secret Service's public information officer also said it is close to wrapping up its internal investigation, which could be made public as early as this week.
