Secret Service Acknowledges It Rejected Earlier Requests from Trump Team for Additional Security

The Secret Service said Saturday it had rejected requests for additional federal security resources made by former president Donald Trump’s security detail over the last two years, according to a new report.

A spokesman for the agency reportedly confirmed to the New York Times that it had turned down requests for additional resources to protect Trump, after having previously denied doing so in the wake of the failed assassination attempt against the former president. However, the denials were not specifically related to the rally in Butler, the spokesman said.

“In some instances where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protectee,” spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in the statement. “This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protectee.”

One day after the shooting, Guglielmi had said it was “an untrue assertion that a member of the former president’s team requested additional resources and that those were rebuffed.”

An unnamed campaign official told the Times a top security issue the campaign faced was a lack of metal detectors to screen attendees. Other issues included limiting the number of picnic tables that people could stand on.

The agency reportedly rejected a request from Trump’s team for specially trained dogs to search the area where his outdoor rally occurred last month on the Jersey Shore.

In the case of the Butler, Pa., rally where Trump was shot in the ear by a 20-year-old gunman, U.S. officials have said the agency enhanced security for the event because it had received information from U.S. intelligence agencies about a potential Iranian assassination plot against Trump.

But the agency is facing a number of questions from lawmakers about the security failure that allowed a gunman to climb up on a rooftop with a direct line to Trump. Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle is set to testify before the House Oversight Committee on July 22.

Senators received a briefing from Secret Service and FBI officials, who reportedly revealed that the man behind the shooting, Thomas Matthew Crooks, had been reported as a suspicious person one hour before the failed assassination attempt took place. Thirty minutes after the report was made, Pennsylvania state police then notified the Secret Service of a suspicious person at 5:51 p.m. The Secret Service reportedly told its snipers at 5:53 p.m., but Trump was still allowed to take the stage just nine minutes later.

Seven minutes after Trump went on, members of the crowd notified police that the shooter was on the rooftop. Two minutes later, Crooks opened fire from a roof with a direct line to Trump. The Secret Service then fatally shot Crooks.