Top officials within the Secret Service reportedly denied requests to increase the security for former President Donald Trump over the past two years, according to several sources.
Four people, who spoke to the Washington Post “on the condition of anonymity,” explained that agents on Trump’s security detail had reportedly asked to be given additional agents and “snipers and specialty teams” for outdoor events or large public gatherings that the former president would attend, as well as equipment such as magnetometers.
A magnetometer is described as being a “device used to detect magnetic fields” that is used to screen people entering “public events, airports, and government buildings,” according to NorthJersey.com.
The sources told the outlet that “senior officials” within the Secret Service reportedly cited having a “lack of resources” due to denials of the requests.
Chief of Communications for the Secret Service Anthony Guglielmi issued a statement on July 14 in which he stated that “the assertation” that Trump’s security team had asked to be given “additional security resources that the U.S. Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security rebuffed is absolutely false.”
“In fact, recently the U.S. Secret Service added protective resources and capabilities to the former President’s security detail,” Guglielmi added.
The outlet noted that after the Secret Service had previously denied “turning down requests” to provide Trump with “additional security,” they are “now acknowledging some may have been rejected”:
The Secret Service, after initially denying turning down requests for additional security, is now acknowleding some may have been rejected. The revelation comes as agency veterans say the organization has been forced to make difficult decisions amid competing demands, a growing list of protectees and limited funding.
In the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Trump last Saturday, where he was shot by a “bullet that pierced the upper part” of his right ear after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from the roof of a nearby building, the Secret Service has faced intense criticism over the many lapses in the security at the rally.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle revealed in an interview with ABC News, that there had been no agents on the roof that Crooks was on because of the “safety factor” of placing someone on a “sloped roof.”
During a recent Secret Service briefing with senators, it was revealed that Crooks had been identified as being a “threat” by the agency 10 minutes prior to Trump taking the stage.