Federal officials planned former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania with “loose security,” according to whistleblower allegations. A gunman at the rally shot and wounded the former president, injured two attendees, as well as killed firefighter and father Corey Comperatore.
“According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a ‘loose’ security event,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote in a Friday letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “[A]llegations suggest the majority of DHS officials were not in fact USSS [Secret Service] agents but instead drawn from the department’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).”
Security was a “stunning failure” at Trump’s Butler rally, Hawley wrote. Citing whistleblower allegations, he said agents did not use K-9 detection, did not maintain proper security near the podium or rally perimeter, and allowed unauthorized people into “backstage areas.”
Allegations claimed the HSI agents staffing the rally were “unfamiliar with standard protocols typically used,” according to Hawley.
“DHS assigned unprepared and inexperienced personnel,” Hawley posted on X.
Hawley wrote Mayorkas that DHS had not been “appropriately forthcoming with members of Congress,” citing a Secret Service call that ended “abruptly” “before most Senators could even ask a question.”
“This is completely unacceptable and contrary to the public’s interest in transparency,” Hawley wrote in the letter. “We have learned more from whistleblowers than your department’s officials. I will continue to protect the anonymity and confidentiality of all who contact my office.”
Hawley said his office aims to “continue” its investigation. He asked
