Secret Service REJECTS claims Trump was denied extra protection before shooting as questions grow over ‘security failure’

The Secret Service responded online to claims that former President Trump’s team had requested additional security as the agency was pressed to explain how Saturday’s assassination attempt could have happened.

“There is a false allegation that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security measures and that this request was denied,” Secret Service spokesman Andrew Guglielmi wrote on X, in response to Trump supporters and online claims.

“This is absolutely false. In fact, we have added protective equipment, technology and capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel pace.”

His comments come as Republicans in Congress prepare for a “full investigation” into the attempted assassination of Trump and question the head of the Secret Service about the incident.

The agency faces difficult questions: How could a gunman come so close to killing a former president on his way to a party convention four months before an election?

Dramatic footage of the incident shows Secret Service agents trying to protect Trump after the shooting in Pennsylvania. However, the agency was not present during a police briefing and is being asked how the suspected gunman gained access to a high roof near the event site.

House Republicans plan to hold a July 22 hearing against Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle in what is expected to be a heated one. Lawmakers are demanding answers.

“I have already contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and am also calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing. The Oversight Committee will be issuing a formal invitation shortly,” said House Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comer of Kentucky.

The suspected gunman came within inches of the former president, who was wounded in the ear and led away by Secret Service agents from the scene of his speech in Pennsylvania.

The agency has already announced its own investigation into how a gunman with an AR-equipped weapon was able to scale a building that offered a better view of where the president was speaking, firing multiple shots from what the agency called an “elevated position” about 500 feet (150 meters) from Trump.

Some witnesses said they noticed the suspicious activity minutes before the shooting.

A witness said those delays lasted several minutes. Questions remain about why the agency itself didn’t have control of the nearby rooftop, why a member of a counterattack team didn’t take action before the incident and how the gunman was able to fire multiple shots.

The agency will be questioned about how a shooting suspect was able to climb to a high location

The Secret Service called the claim “absolutely false”

Snipers were able to take out the suspected gunman, but only after he shot the former president

The officers who came to protect Trump are being praised, but the agency is already facing tough questions about how the incident could happen

“There’s going to be an intense review,” said former Secret Service agent Joseph LaSorsa. “There’s going to be a massive realignment,” he told Reuters. “This can’t happen.”

Kevin Rojek, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Pittsburg Field Office, told a reporter at a briefing hours after the incident that “there’s going to be a long investigation into exactly what happened” and that it could take months. “It’s surprising” that the shooter was able to get off four or five shots, he said.

Jeff James, a retired Secret Service agent, told Fox News that snipers may not have responded to warnings in time because they were targeting areas as far away as 1,000 yards.

“Maybe they were looking at what they thought was another perceived target behind him. If people, you know, if this really happened and people said, hey, there’s a guy, there’s a guy, they might be looking at a raised natural feature in the tree line behind those buildings,” he told Fox News.

“So it’s, you know, it’s a lot to take in at once and with people shouting and pointing it’s hard — maybe hard to make out what they’re pointing at. It could certainly cause something that’s just as close to it to be missed,” he said.

While the investigation will undoubtedly take a long time, security is being re-examined at the convention, which will gather Republican officials from across the country and where Trump will receive his party’s nomination on Thursday.

With the Republican National Convention getting underway in just hours, a senior official said security at the event will be “revisited.”

A host of federal agencies have been planning for months how to secure the convention, which has been designated a national security event. ABC News quoted a senior federal official as saying the comprehensive security plan would be reviewed.

Senator Ron Jonson of Wisconsin told CNN, when asked about the arrangements, “I know there’s a lot of manpower here and that’s the first stop of security, you’ve got to have people, law enforcement officers present to deter any kind of violence.” He added, “I’m not worried about the citizens of Wisconsin, I would be worried about outside agitators. But I think, of course, that’s just going to increase security. It needs to be increased.”