by John Solomon
Hosted by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris undetected bomb. Rejection of additional resources presidential candidates. Admission that a White House agent attacked her superior.
Long before the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday night drew such harsh criticism of the Secret Service, the president’s security agency had already been facing tough questions about its competence, training, recruiting and emphasis on diversity.
According to sources, several weeks ago, Secret Service agents circulated a petition questioning their management.
Those questions are sure to draw renewed attention after video footage showed a gunman scaling a building less than 200 yards from Trump, walking to a firing position with a rifle and firing several shots before being subdued by a team of Secret Service snipers during an event Saturday night in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Several witnesses said they began shouting that the man had a gun before he started shooting. And several lawmakers say they are now looking into reports that the Trump campaign recently requested additional security resources and was turned down.
“How can you have someone on your roof?” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, himself a victim of political violence when he was seriously injured at a congressional baseball practice. “There are reports that people saw him climbing onto the roof and even notified authorities, and we’ll investigate.”
How is it possible that there are so many officers in the area that they didn’t see something so obvious that the shooter had such visibility just 150 yards from the scene?”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Saturday evening demanded that the Secret Service immediately provide Congress with an answer as to why it failed to prevent the attempted attack.
Just hours after Trump survived the attack, Comer announced he would subpoena the Secret Service chief for testimony, as well as documents and other evidence.
“I have already contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and I am also calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for questioning,” he said on X. “The Oversight Committee will be sending a formal invitation shortly. There are many questions and the American people are demanding answers.”
Criticism of the Secret Service spread quickly on social media, from X owner Elon Musk to members of Congress, with several urging Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mallorca to consider refusing to provide Secret Service assets to third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“Extreme incompetence or deliberate action. Either way, SS leadership must resign,” Musk wrote.
Democrats are also likely to face novel questions after Rep. Benny Thompson recently tried to end Trump’s Secret Service protections, and President Joe Biden reportedly told donors recently that it was time to put a “target” on his Republican rival.
In May, Congress requested a consultation with the Secret Service after several incidents allegedly raised internal concerns about the quality of training.
In lithe of these Secret Service incidents, a petition is reportedly circulating calling on Congress to launch an investigation into the agency, according to Comer.
In one incident, a Secret Service agent assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris allegedly attacked her supervisor and other agents. The unnamed agent also exhibited other “troubling” behavior, according to her colleagues.
Comer mentioned the incident in a letter to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and asked for information on how the Secret Service was responding to allegations of “insufficient training.”
“This incident has raised concerns within the agency about the hiring and selection process for this agent,” Comer said. he wrote in his letter. “Specifically [concerns] whether previous incidents in her professional history were overlooked in the hiring process as years of understaffing led the agency to lower its once more tough standards as part of its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.”
Comer also noted concerns raised in the petition about “double standards in disciplinary actions and vulnerability to potential insider threats” that could pose a risk to U.S. national security.
The letter requested a briefing by June 13 and cited “potential gaps” that could prevent the Secret Service from “fulfilling its mission of ensuring the safety of protected individuals,” including the president, vice president and their families.
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John Solomon is an award-winning investigative journalist, author and digital media entrepreneur who serves as CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Just the News.
Photo “Secret Service” by US National Archives.
