Hawley Calls for Suspension of ‘Inexperienced, Ineffective’ Lead Agent at July 13 Trump Rally

Sen. Josh Hawley is urging the Secret Service to suspend the agent in charge of the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally where former President Donald Trump was shot. The agent was “inexperienced, ineffective, and not up to the job,” a whistleblower told the Missouri Republican lawmaker.

Though the Secret Service agent “failed to implement basic security protocols,” the individual has not been fired, the whistleblower said.

Hawley sent a letter to acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. on Tuesday calling for the agent’s suspension while the agent is investigated.

The agent in charge of the July 13 rally was “new” and had “relatively little experience,” the whistleblower told Hawley.

“These allegations raise serious questions about the lead site agent’s conduct—an individual you have so far refused to hold accountable,” the senator wrote. “On July 30, you said that you will not ‘put your thumb on the scale,’ but by continuing to assign this agent to protective visits in light of serious allegations of incompetence, you are doing exactly that. You are also jeopardizing the security of protectees by allowing this individual to continue working.”

A whistleblower told Hawley the Secret Service allowed usually forbidden campaign decorations, like flags, which hinder the line-of-sight of agents responsible for identifying threats. The Secret Service did not check IDs when issuing credentials, according to the whistleblower.

Homeland Security Investigations agents told campaign officials that they had never staffed a rally before and did not know proper procedure, the whistleblower alleged.

“These staffing decisions—such as what personnel to deploy and where—were the responsibility of this lead agent, according to the whistleblower,” Hawley’s letter says.

Hawley asked Rowe to respond to the following questions within a week.

• “Who specifically made the decision to assign this lead site agent to the July 13 rally? On what basis was this decision made?”
• “Were obstructions on the stage and catwalk permitted to be used without evaluating the impact on the line-of-sight for agents responsible for the president’s protection?”
• “Why were credential pins given out without asking for identification?”
• “How specifically do you plan to hold the lead site agent accountable?”