Whistleblowers have reported to Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that the Secret Service is “woefully unprepared” and inadequately trained to protect candidates, including former President Trump, in the wake of an alleged assassination attempt against the Republican presidential nominee.
During an appearance on “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Tuesday night, Hawley disclosed that whistleblowers had revealed serious concerns about the training provided to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents reassigned to protective duties. According to these sources, the agents received only a single two-hour webinar via Microsoft Teams.
The whistleblowers described the training as chaotic and insufficient, with pre-recorded videos plagued by technical issues. “Imagine 1,000 people trying to log onto Microsoft Teams at the last minute, each required to sign in individually,” one whistleblower recounted to Hawley. “Once the session finally started, the Secret Service instructor struggled to get the audio working on the pre-recorded videos, which, I’m told, are the same ones used last year. The videos had to be restarted six times… The content was not helpful.
The whistleblowers also revealed that the same two-hour webinars, which were criticized for their outdated content and technical issues, have not been updated since the attempted assassination of Trump on July 13.
“Nothing has changed—no new material, no improvements—since the assassination attempt on former President Trump,” one whistleblower told Senator Hawley.
Additionally, other HSI agents who were assigned to the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on the fateful day of July 13, informed Hawley’s office that their entire training consisted of just one PowerPoint presentation.
Senator Hawley harshly criticized the government agency for their mishandling of the situation, calling it a “nightmare.”
“This is a nightmare—the only reason we’re aware of these failures is because of the courage of whistleblowers,” Hawley stated.
The allegations regarding the lack of training and preparation of HSI agents come amid ongoing communications between Senator Hawley’s office and whistleblowers concerning the July 13 Trump rally shooting. These discussions have focused on the failures that allowed the would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, to gain access to the AGR building rooftop with an AR-15 rifle on that fateful evening.
Hawley’s office previously highlighted concerns about the lead site agent in charge of security, describing them as inexperienced and “incompetent.”
“The site agent, the lead agent, was known to the Trump campaign as inexperienced, ineffectual, and, frankly, incompetent,” Hawley stated during a previous interview on “Jesse Watters Primetime.” “Whistleblowers have informed me that on that day, she failed to enforce the standard security protocols.”
According to Hawley, the lead agent neglected to check IDs and failed to utilize Secret Service agents for the event’s security. “Most of the agents present that day were not Secret Service; they were Homeland Security agents,” he added.
