During an interview on "Jesse Watters Primetime" on the Fox News Channel, Senator Josh Hawley unveiled allegations against former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, claiming she lied to Congress.
Breitbart reported that these accusations stem from whistleblower testimonies, suggesting that the Secret Service leadership intentionally withheld resources during a rally for former President Donald Trump in Butler.
Hawley detailed the whistleblower claims, highlighting that Secret Service leadership, under Cheatle’s direction, instructed agents not to request additional manpower or deploy counter-snipers for the rally.
This directive aimed to prevent any documentation or evidence of the refusal, thereby leaving no paper trail of the decision.
According to these whistleblowers, Kimberly Cheatle previously testified before Congress, stating no such requests had been denied. However, the whistleblowers contradicted this testimony by revealing that orders were given not to file any requests for additional support in the first place.
Senator Hawley expressed his concern over what seemed to be a deliberate attempt to provide inadequate security at a potentially high-risk event.
"Well, Jesse, what new whistleblowers tell me is that the leadership of the Secret Service told the agents who were advancing the Butler rally not to request additional manpower," Hawley said during the interview.
"This directly contradicts, by the way, what the Secret Service Director told Congress. He said, oh, we never denied a manpower request. But what the whistleblowers say, Jesse is they told them ahead of time, don’t request more resources, don’t request counter-snipers, because if you do, we will deny it," Hawley added, suggesting a premeditated falsification to Congress about the real situation.
During the same discussion, the conversation turned to the potentially disastrous consequences had the rally proceeded without adequate counter-sniper support.
"This was an attempt to hold down the resources. This was an attempt to deny counter-snipers. Remember, they only finally got counter-snipers to come on the day, Jesse. Earlier, they had said no counter-snipers would be available. Can you imagine what would have happened if there had been no counter-snipers at all at this event?" Hawley questioned.
Jesse Watters, the host, agreed and highlighted the gravity of the situation, acknowledging, "No, I can, and I don’t want to imagine that."
The senator concluded his interview by emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability within the Secret Service.
He flagged this incident as a possible attempt to obscure the true nature of the security preparations. "This is all an attempt to cover it up," Hawley stated, pointing to a deeper potential malpractice within the agency charged with protecting the president.
The series of allegations and the accompanying testimonies paint a troubling picture of internal policies that might have compromised the security of a former president.
Such accusations suggest not only a breach of protocol but also raise serious ethical and safety concerns.
Within the context of these whistleblower revelations, the situation demands further investigation to understand the motivations behind the alleged instructions not to request additional security resources, and whether this represents an isolated incident or a systemic issue within the agency.