There’s probably a lot coming this week about the assassination attempt on President Trump and the security screw-ups at his Pennsylvania rally.  In the meantime, this Sunday podcast from Dan Bongino covers what we reported on last week and should bring you up to date if you need a refresh.  Bongino’s trusted sources have been spectacular, and we’re glad to be able to offer a solid place to land when the media are full of speculation.  (Shrapnel, my foot.)

https://bongino.com/sunday-special-with-susan-crabtree-and-usss-agent-chuck-marino

We reported last week that the Secret Service had not shown up for the 9AM coordination meeting with local law enforcement.  (The term “local law enforcement” refers to everyone involved in security for the rally who was NOT Secret Service.)  And now, an officer from a local SWAT team has said on live TV that ahead of the rally, they NEVER got an in-person briefing from the Secret Service at all.

Jason Woods, lead sharpshooter for the Beaver County SWAT team, told ABC NEWS, “We were supposed to get a face-to-face briefing from the Secret Service members whenever they arrived.  That never happened.”  This likely contributed to the critical failure in planning that led to a near-assassination, a cold-blooded murder, and two men critically wounded.

The different teams were using different communications systems and couldn’t interface.

Woods said his team was in position for hours before Trump went onstage, yet they had no communication with the Secret Service till after the shooting.  This appears to be why the members of Trump’s personal Secret Service detail were not informed that there was a suspicious person with a range finder lurking around.  If they’d been alerted to the potential threat, they could have delayed Trump’s speech until it had been neutralized.  Trump himself has said his appearances are delayed all the time for one reason or another; he’s used to waiting.

As Bongino has said, the Secret Service is in a delicate position because they largely depend on local law enforcement wherever they go.  Yet the ultimate responsibility for the President’s safety belongs to the Secret Service, and if they hesitate to accept blame, it implies the locals are at fault.  But according to Beaver County Chief Detective Patrick Young, who oversees the Emergency Services Unit and SWAT team, they “did everything humanly possible that day.”

We would add that if the Secret Service had used drones to monitor the location, they would have known about the suspicious person because they would have SEEN HIM.

Much more tomorrow. 

https://www.rvmnews.com/2024/07/local-swat-covering-trump-rally-drops-secret-service-bombshell-live-on-abc-videos/

Related: Trump announced that he will return to Butler, Pennsylvania, to the scene of his near-assassination for a “big, beautiful rally” that will also honor the late Corey Comperatore and the other two shooting victims who are still recovering. This backs up what he recently said when he scoffed at the idea that being shot had turned him into a “new Trump” and said if he changed, it would be signaling to leftists that violent assaults on their political opponents work.

https://www.westernjournal.com/trump-will-return-almost-died-reveals-plans-2-weeks-assassination-attempt-stay-tuned/

It also makes the Democrats look even more ridiculous when they try to claim that Trump is “afraid” to debate Kamala Harris. If he’s not afraid of a would-be assassin’s bullets, I doubt that he’s scared of her barrage of word salad.