U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary

07/18/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/18/2024 12:13

Whistleblowers Reveal Security Failures at Trump Rally

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) revealed that whistleblowers have disclosed to the Committee that the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) did not have proper resources for President Trump's campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania because of staffing shortages due to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit and First Lady Jill Biden's event in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

The information provided to this Committee raises serious questions about the thoroughness of the security planning by local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in support of President Trump's campaign rally. Law enforcement overlooked a number of vulnerabilities prior to and during the event in Butler, Pennsylvania, allowing an assassin to shoot a President, murder an attendee, and critically wound two others.

Chairman Jordan sent a letterto Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray requesting he be fully prepared to address all questions about the attempted assassination of President Trump and the FBI's investigation of it during his upcoming testimonytothe Committee on Wednesday, July 24, 2024.

Questions for Director Wray from the Committee include:
  1. How many agents, analysts, and support personnel has the FBI dedicated to the investigation?
  2. Was there coordination between the FBI, USSS, and the WPFC prior to President Trump's event on July 13?
  3. How many buildings had to be secured inside and outside of the security perimeter for President Trump's event on July 13?
  4. Why was the roof of the AGR International building left unsecured?
  5. How much time elapsed between identifying the shooter as a potential threat and the attempted assassination?
  6. How much time elapsed between the local police officer encountering the shooter on the sloped roof and the attempted assassination?
  7. Has the FBI interviewed the local police officer who encountered the shooter?
  8. What does the FBI's evaluation of the shooter's phone and digital activity show about his actions and movements in the days and hours leading up to the attempted assassination?
  9. Is the FBI's investigation limited to the shooter and his motivations or does it include the security failures that led to the attempted assassination?
  10. Was the security posture at President Trump's event limited due to resource constraints with the NATO Summit and/or First Lady Dr. Jill Biden's event in Pittsburgh?
  11. How did communications breakdowns between various law enforcement entities affect the ability of local law enforcement and USSS to identify the shooter as a potential threat and mitigate the threat before he took action?
  12. What actions did the USSS take to remove or cover President Trump after a threat was known or detected?

Read the full letter to Director Wray here.
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