On Monday Sen. Josh Hawley, (R-Mo) released a whistleblower report regarding the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. The report is subtitled ‘Failures of The United States Secret Service in Connection with the Attempted Assassination of Former President Donald J. Trump’.
Most notably, the report detailed three revelations from whistleblowers which have not been reported prior to its publication on Monday.
“The lead agent responsible for the entire Butler visit, including the rally, failed a key examination during their federal law enforcement training to become a Secret Service agent,” the report said on page 2.
“Secret Service intelligence units—teams of Secret Service agents paired with state and local law enforcement to handle reports of suspicious persons—were absent from the Butler rally,” the report said on page 2.
“The hospital site where former President Trump received treatment after the shooting was poorly secured, and the hospital site agent could not answer basic questions about site security,” the report said on page 2.
The lack of federal transparency has caused investigations to turn toward whistleblowers.
“…sources with direct knowledge of Secret Service’s own internal investigation have alleged to Senator Hawley that the Department of Homeland Security is leaning on Secret Service not to comply with document requests from Congress. Instead, it has been left to courageous whistleblowers to tell the story of what really happened,” the report said on page 16.
The report began by summarizing the fateful day of July 13 followed by detailing federal agency behaviors indicative of elusion and obfuscation surrounding the attempted assassination.
“Following this catastrophic failure, the Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have all tried to evade real accountability. These agencies and their leaders have slow-walked congressional investigations, misled the American people, and shirked responsibility,” the report said on page 1.
The report went on to describe the response taken by Hawley to this federal inaction.
“Senator Hawley personally visited the Butler, Pennsylvania rally site to interview whistleblowers, opened up a whistleblower tip line, and encouraged those with relevant information to tell their stories. Since then, many individuals have come forward with information regarding the events of July 13—from the Secret Service, DHS, and local law enforcement, as well as private citizens,” the report said on page 1.
Key findings from Hawley’s own investigation of the July 13 assassination attempt were listed on page 1 of the report. They are said to indicate deeply troubling signs of ‘negligence, sloppiness and gross incompetence’.
The report goes on to list a timeline of events and map of the Butler venue on page 4 and 5, before going on to ‘Section II’ of the report on page 5 – ‘Whistleblower Allegations’. It begins with previously reported whistleblower allegations followed by ‘New Whistleblower Allegations’ on page 14, which were also listed on page 2.
Chiefly, on pages 14 through 16 the report listed 15 still-outstanding questions regarding the responsibility and accountability of federal agencies involved in the Butler event’s security, security at the AGR building complex [the building the shooter was on], requests for additional resources for the event and the motive behind the shooter. The questions are:
- Who, within the Secret Service, made the decision to deny counter sniper coverage to the
rooftop from which Thomas Crooks shot former President Trump on July 13? - Who, within the Secret Service, was responsible for approving the communications plan
between federal, state, and local law enforcement officers on July 13? - Who, within the Secret Service, was responsible for supervising the local law enforcement
partners at the rally on July 13? - Who, within the Secret Service, was the site agent for the rally on July 13? (Senator Hawley
through whistleblowers knows the identity of this agent, but executive branch agencies will
neither confirm nor deny the agent’s identity publicly.)
a. Who specifically made the decision to assign the site agent to the July 13 rally?
b. On what basis was this decision made? - Who, within the Secret Service, was the lead agent for the Butler visit on July 13? (Senator
Hawley through whistleblowers knows the identity of this agent, but executive branch agencies
will neither confirm nor deny the agent’s identity publicly.)
a. Who specifically made the decision to assign the lead agent to the Butler visit?
b. On what basis was this decision made? - Who, within the Secret Service, was in charge of determining the security perimeter for the
Butler, Pennsylvania rally? - To date, who within the Secret Service has been fired, suspended, or subject to any discipline
for actions related to the rally at Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024? - Did any law enforcement agents or counter sniper teams abandon their assigned posts at any
AGR building? - How did Crooks access the roof of AGR Building 6 and smuggle a firearm there without
detection by law enforcement? - Did local law enforcement fire a weapon at Crooks, as has been reported? If so, what was the
outcome of that engagement? - Were CSD resources requested for the Butler rally on July 13? If so, were they provided? If
not, why not? - Did the Acting Secret Service Director ever deny resources to the Trump campaign, or USSS
counter sniper teams, as has been reported in the press? - Has former President Trump, his organization, his campaign, or any related entity ever
requested additional protection from the Secret Service?
a. What role, if any, did former Director Cheatle have in reviewing, approving, or denying
any such requests?
b. What role, if any, did Rowe as Deputy Director or Acting Director have in reviewing,
approving, or denying any such requests? - What was Crooks’s motive for the attempted assassination?
- What did Crooks use encrypted messaging applications for in his preparation for the assassination attempt?
Summarizing the whistleblower allegations that have previously been reported, the report documented on page 6 how the Butler rally was treated as a ‘loose’ security event.
Page 7 of the report documented whistleblower allegations that law enforcement abandoned the AGR building roof because it was too hot.
“The whistleblower alleged that there was supposed to be a law enforcement presence on the roof of AGR Building 6—the roof from which Thomas Crooks attempted to assassinate the former president. They alleged that at least one individual was posted to the roof of AGR Building 6 for the duration of the rally, but the post was abandoned because of the hot weather,” the report said on page 7. “The whistleblower further alleged that concerns over the heat prompted law enforcement to station personnel inside Building 6, rather than on patrol around the building.”
Page 9 of the report documented how Secret Service declined drone coverage.
“The whistleblower alleged that the night before the rally, Secret Service personnel repeatedly denied offers from a local law enforcement partner to utilize drone technology to secure the rally. According to the whistleblower, the drones that were offered to the Secret Service could not only identify active shooters but also help neutralize them. The whistleblower further alleged that after the shooting took place, Secret Service personnel changed course and asked the local partner to deploy the drone technology to surveil the site in the aftermath of the attack,” the report said on page 9. “The day before Senator Hawley published these allegations, FBI Christopher Wray confirmed in his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee that Thomas Crooks used a drone to survey the site in preparation for his attack. In fact, Wray confirmed that the shooter was operating the drone approximately two hours before President Trump took the stage. Senator Hawley wrote that it was ‘hard to understand’ why Secret Service personnel declined the drones offered to them, particularly in light of Wray’s testimony.”
Page 11 of the report documented how the Butler rally site agent was known to lack competence.
“One whistleblower alleged that the Secret Service’s lead site agent—the agent with specific responsibility for the security of the rally site—was known to lack competence and experience in the role. The whistleblower claimed that this agent was responsible for mitigating line-of-sight concerns at the Butler site,” the report said on page 11. “A separate whistleblower alleged that the lead site agent personally made decisions that likely compromised the overall security of the event. For example, campaign material such as flags were permitted to be placed around the stage and catwalk used by the former president, despite the fact that these items were typically prohibited because of how they affected the line-of-sight of those agents responsible for identifying threats. The Secret Service also did not check IDs when issuing credentials that authorize access to restricted areas of the site, contrary to typical practice.”
Page 12 of the report documented how Secret Service headquarters denied additional manpower resources.
“According to the whistleblower, the lead advance agent for a trip involving protection of a specific individual typically submits a “manpower request” to the local field office. This normally includes the number of personnel and other security assets needed for the event and is submitted to the U.S. Secret Service’s Office of Protective Operations-Manpower (OPO-Manpower) for final approval,” the report said on page 12. “The whistleblower alleged that officials within this office preemptively informed the Pittsburgh field office that the Butler rally was not going to receive additional security resources because Trump is a former president, and not the incumbent President or Vice President. According to the whistleblower, the manpower request did not include extra security resources because agents on the ground were told not to ask for them in the first place. Importantly, these resources included counter sniper teams and CSD personnel.”
Page 13 of the report documented how DHS agents assigned to the Butler rally received inadequate training.
“The whistleblower alleged that the only training received by many HSI agents reassigned to work protective details was a single two-hour webinar on Microsoft Teams featuring pre-recorded videos. According to the whistleblower, these videos were not substantive and their playback was frequently riddled with technical mishaps, leaving the HSI agents ill-prepared for the protective mission to which they were newly assigned. Furthermore, the whistleblower alleged that the Secret Service has not changed, updated, or otherwise improved its webinar trainings since the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania,” the report said on page 13. “The whistleblower further alleged that HSI agents were pulled off child exploitation cases in order to serve on protective details for which they were unprepared.”