Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, demanding answers on matters relating to the July 13 assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
The letter follows several whistleblowers coming forward and sharing security details from Trump’s security team in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Whistleblowers who have direct knowledge of the event have approached my office. According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a ‘loose’ security event,” Hawley wrote in the letter. “For example, detection canines were not used to monitor entry and detect threats in the usual manner. Individuals without proper designations were able to gain access to backstage areas. Department personnel did not appropriately police the security buffer around the podium and were also not stationed at regular intervals around the event’s security perimeter.”
According to the whistleblowers, the “majority of DHS officials were not in fact USSS agents but instead drawn from the department’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).”
“This is especially concerning given that HSI agents were unfamiliar with standard protocols typically used at these types of events, according to the allegations,” Hawley wrote.
The senator added that he would continue to investigate DHS as the “department has not been appropriately forthcoming with Members of Congress—abruptly ending the only call with USSS before most senators could even ask a question. This is completely unacceptable and contrary to the public’s interest in transparency.”
Hawley then asked Mayorkas to answer several questions regarding staff determinations, percentages of HSI agents versus those from USSS, training, and agent positioning.
In an earlier letter, Hawley requested records regarding the Secret Service from the DHS Inspector General.
“You should immediately pull all relevant records from agency servers and ensure they are adequately preserved. This will be necessary to inform congressional investigations, which are already beginning,” Hawley wrote.
He also sent a letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. The letter followed a BlackRock ad circulating on social media showing Trump’s shooter, Thomas Crooks.
“You must immediately preserve all records relating to this advertisement and your company’s association with Thomas Crooks, including any and all communications your company has had with him, his family, or his school,” the senator demanded.
After the letters were sent, Hawley shared on social media, “Let’s get some answers.”
