Secret Service allegedly 'repeatedly denied' offer to use drones leading up to Trump assassination attempt
Local law enforcement's drones could have identified the active shooter and aided in neutralizing the threat, a whistleblower said.
United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday presenting additional shocking whistleblower claims pertaining to the U.S. Secret Service's failed response to the recent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In the letter, Hawley noted that the gunman had used a drone to survey the area around the rally ahead of the event, a fact which was confirmed by FBI Director Christopher Wray yesterday during his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
More than two hours before the attempted assassination, the shooter flew the drone for roughly 11 minutes, approximately 200 yards from the stage, Wray said.
"This raises an obvious question: why was the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) not using its own drones?" Hawley asked Mayorkas.
Hawley stated that a whistleblower reported that the USSS "repeatedly denied offers from a local law enforcement partner to utilize drone technology to secure the rally."
"This means that the technology was both available to USSS and able to be deployed to secure the site," Hawley's letter continued. "Secret Service said no. The whistleblower further alleges that after the shooting took place, the USSS changed course and asked the local partner to deploy the drone technology to surveil the site in the aftermath of the attack."
According to the whistleblower, Hawley noted, the drones offered by the law enforcement agency had the capability to identify active shooters and "help neutralize them."
"It is hard to understand why USSS would decline to use drones when they were offered, particularly given the fact USSS permitted the shooter to overfly the rally area with his own drone mere hours before [the] event," he wrote.
Hawley added that Mayorkas is expected to testify before lawmakers next week.
Just days ago, Hawley sent a separate letter to Mayorkas demanding answers from the DHS regarding why law enforcement agents were not stationed on the roof of the building where the gunman took his shots. Hawley stated that an agent was assigned to be on the roof but that they "abandoned" their post "due to the hot weather."
On Thursday, Hawley plans to introduce legislation, the Trump Assassination Attempt Transparency Act, that would force the declassification of all information related to the incident.
"We can't let the federal government hide behind the 'classified' label," he told Fox News Digital.
On Wednesday, the House unanimously passed — in a 416-0 vote — a resolution to form a bipartisan task force that will investigate the assassination attempt.
The USSS deferred comment to the DHS.
The DHS told Blaze News, "DHS responds to congressional requests directly via official channels, and the Department will continue to respond appropriately to congressional oversight. We are committed to working with the appropriate and relevant investigations of what happened on July 13, including with Congress, the Inspector General, and both internal and independent reviews."
Want to leave a tip?
Candace Hathaway