The near-assassination of Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 was not just what Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle called a “catastrophe” before the House Oversight Committee this morning.
It may also have been a result of the CIA refusing to beef up security around President Trump.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that the department had “repeatedly” refused to provide additional security for Trump over a two-year period.
So far, Cheatle has steadfastly refused to resign despite the debacle, but this blow to the agency's credibility under her direction could be career-ending.
Multiple denials
Cheatle's ordeal began when suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, fired multiple rounds from an AR-15 at Trump from a rooftop about 150 yards away, striking Trump in the ear and killing firefighter Corey Comperatore and wounding two others.
Police missteps were numerous. Investigators encountered Crooks as he entered the Butler Farm Show with a rangefinder. Police photographed him before the assassination attempt. Crooks hid a rifle at the scene before the shooting.
Cheatle told ABC News that the roof where Crooks fired the shots was not manned because of its steep slope.
And now, The Washington Post has revealed that the department has rejected Trump's request for additional protection.
“Investigators responsible for the former president's security have requested more magnetic detectors and agents to screen attendees at sporting events and other large gatherings attended by Trump, as well as snipers and specialized teams at other outdoor events,” four sources familiar with the requests told the Post.
The request, which has not previously been reported, was at times rejected by senior officials at the agency, citing a variety of reasons, including a lack of resources at an agency that has long been plagued by staffing shortages, the people said.
The refusal, despite multiple written requests, created long-running tensions between Trump, his aides and top security and Secret Service officials, as his advisers privately worried the vaunted security agency was not up to the task of protecting the former president.
To make matters worse, the agency denied earlier claims that it had denied additional protections, but “now acknowledges that some may have been denied.”
In fact, the agency was so stonewalling Trump that Cheatle refused extra security when he met with Trump campaign officials in Wisconsin, the paper continues.
The Post also explained that department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi flat-out lied when asked about it.
“The assertion that members of the former President's security team requested additional security resources and were denied by the U.S. Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security is categorically false,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement the day after the shooting.
After being questioned at length by The Washington Post, Guglielmi said he had received new information indicating that headquarters may have in fact denied some of Trump's requests for additional security from his personal security detail, and that he was reviewing documents to better understand the specific interactions.
The Butler rally was not one of the ones police refused to add security to, but they did decline to do so at a similarly dangerous rally site in Pickens, South Carolina, The Washington Post found.
Trump was surrounded by large buildings, and his campaign requested a sniper team but was denied.
“The Pickens event was one of several where Trump's team was denied further tactical support,” a source told The Post. “After detailed discussions about why the team was needed, Trump's team was told Secret Service headquarters had determined it could not provide the resources.”
Secret Service and Trump campaign officials also sparred over security at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee: “Relations deteriorated, with Republican officials repeatedly seeking meetings with Secret Service officials in Washington after sparring with officials there over security and logistics,” The Washington Post reported.
Lack of financial resources
The paper also said the agency has suffered from “staffing shortages” for more than a decade and was hit by embarrassing scandals during the Obama and Trump administrations.
“Bill Gage, a former Secret Service agent who served on the presidential security and counter-attack teams in the Bush and Obama administrations, said the agency has always been drowning in more requests and events than it can accommodate within its hiring limits, and that headquarters has become even more frequent in turning down requests during busy election seasons,” the Post continued.
“I hate to oversimplify it, but this is simply a supply and demand issue. Requests are routinely turned down,” Gage said. “Ultimately, the director has to come forward and say we don't have the manpower and we can't continue this zero-failure mission without a significant increase in the budget.”
One official told The Washington Post that the department does not have the resources to protect Trump like it did when he was president.
When will she resign?
Meanwhile, Cheatle has been under fire since the day of the shooting, drawing justified ridicule for her claim that the roof was too steep for investigators to gain access.
The “30×30” initiative, which aims to have 30% of government positions filled by women by 2030, is also being examined.
Republicans have been pressuring her to resign, and continued to do so at this morning's hearing.
Under tough questioning from Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Cheatle acknowledged that Crooks's explicit attack on Trump was a “huge mistake.”
Cheatle also confirmed that no one at the company has been laid off.