By Steve Neavling
Before the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a July 13 rally in Pennsylvania, the Secret Service repeatedly rejected requests for additional federal resources over a two-year period, The New York Times reports.
The acknowledgement by the Secret Service on Saturday contradicts the agency’s statements just after the assassination attempt.
“There’s an untrue assertion that a member of the former president’s team requested additional resources and that those were rebuffed,” Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said last Sunday, the day after the shooting.
On Saturday, Guglielmi admitted the Secret Service rejected some requests for additional federal security for Trump’s detail.
When the agency couldn’t provide additional assistance, Guglielmi the Secret Service worked with state and local law enforcement or altered its security plans to reduce Trump’s exposure.
Meanwhile, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is scheduled to appear Monday morning at a House Oversight Committee hearing. Cheatle has come under pressure to resign.
Also, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas named a panel of experts to conduct an independent review of the assassination attempt.
