According to Fox News sources, Thomas Matthew Crooks, the man who plotted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, had a gun hidden at the location waiting for Crooks to rush in to kill him. The news surfaced just before a shocking report from Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who revealed that whistleblowers had revealed that most of the agents who had been around Trump were not Secret Service agents.
If Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle hasn't written her resignation yet, now might be the time.
Cheatle's agency's unprecedented failure to protect Trump has eroded her credibility, and the security breakdown means she will face an uphill battle at her hearing before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.
The committee subpoenaed Cheatle on Wednesday.
Golf Rangefinders and AR-15s
A Secret Service source told Fox News that Crooks had hidden an AR-15 beforehand, but it was unclear where he hid the rifle.
“We went from golf rangefinders to AR-15s and now we have to close the gap,” a source told Fox News.
Authorities said Thursday that Crooks was a “person of interest” but not a “threat” when they first saw him Saturday carrying a golf rangefinder.
At the time, distance measuring devices were not banned at public gatherings, but authorities are expected to review the list of banned items.
Crooks was not considered a formal threat until he was seen with a weapon.
Fox did not report when Crooks hid the rifle, possibly several days before the incident.
Hawley's letter to Mayorkas
The revelation that Crooks had a hidden gun is just the latest damaging revelation for the Secret Service. News reports since the day of the assassination attempt have detailed a botched operation that appears to have been carried out by the Keystone Police rather than the Secret Service (USSS).
And indeed, as Hawley noted in his letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whistleblowers have said the bulk of Trump's security detail is made up of DHS agents.
In two damning paragraphs, Hawley describes Cheatle and his subordinates as negligent in their duties.
A whistleblower with direct knowledge of the event contacted my office. According to the complaint, the July 13 rally was considered a “lax” security event. For example, sniffer dogs were not used in the usual manner to monitor entry and detect threats; individuals without proper designation were able to enter backstage areas; Department personnel did not adequately guard the security buffer around the podium and were not spaced at consistent intervals around the event's security perimeter.
Additionally, the whistleblower alleges that most of the Department of Homeland Security personnel were not actually USSS agents, but rather individuals from the department's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division, which is particularly concerning because, according to the allegations, HSI agents were not familiar with the standard procedures typically used at these types of events.
Hawley expects a response within seven days.
Former agent shocked by incompetence
And as The New American reported today, Hawley's whistleblower allegations support what former agent Dan Bongino said: that only a small percentage of the agents around Trump were Secret Service agents.
Bongino told Fox News' Jesse Watters earlier this week that most of the agents are “temporary HSI officers” who aren't trained to protect the president.
Bongino was also surprised police didn't deploy aerial drones or other high-tech surveillance equipment.
Hawley asked Mayorkas what percentage of agents at the event were HSI agents, as opposed to Secret Service agents, and whether those HSI agents made up the majority.
Other revelations include that investigators allowed Crooks to enter the rally carrying a distance measuring device but then disappeared, and that the suspect's father reported his son to authorities as missing before he attempted to assassinate President Trump, killing firefighter Corey Comperatore and wounding two others.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) subpoenaed Cheatle after the Department of Homeland Security refused to cooperate with lawmakers questioning the assassination.
“It appears that Department of Homeland Security officials have intervened, calling your attendance into question,” he wrote to Cheatle on July 17. He further complained that the committee has not received “meaningful updates.” He also said that the Department of Homeland Security has been stonewalling with a “lack of transparency and failure to cooperate.”
