By Mike Huckabee
July 19, 2024
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How interesting it would have been to be a fly on the wall during President Trump’s alleged meeting with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Tuesday in Milwaukee. (She was there in an attempt to do damage control at the GOP Convention. It didn’t go well, as you saw yesterday.) ABC NEWS reported that such a meeting took place, though a Trump campaign adviser didn’t confirm or deny it. The Secret Service reportedly has been mum as well, but right now they’re mum about everything. As NEWSMAX reported, “It’s not clear what was discussed.”
I think we have a pretty good idea, though. I’ll bet he gave her an earful (pardon the expression.)
https://www.newsmax.com/
Apparently, some changes have been made in Trump’s Secret Service detail since he got grazed by a bullet on Saturday in Pennsylvania. As reported by BLAZE MEDIA, when Trump walked onto the convention floor Monday evening, “he was flanked by several hulking male agents with nary a female agent in sight.” These guys were big and tall enough to be able to cover Trump’s large form with their own bodies if need be.
To those who say this requirement is sexist, we’ll just say that if the Secret Service has a highly experienced, capable female agent who is at least a sturdy 6’3 and strong enough to hold down a bull moose like President Trump to shield him from flying bullets, she certainly should be allowed to be one of his “body” agents. But that’s the only case. No exceptions.
Again, the information we brought you yesterday from former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino’s impeccable sources is now being confirmed in media reports. Some agents are so humiliated by this epic security failure that they’ve turned into whistleblowers, and that’s why Bongino had still more to report on Thursday.
His sources say there’s some uncomfortable finger-pointing going on between the Secret Service and “local law enforcement,” an umbrella term that includes anyone besides Secret Service who had roles in security for this event. There appear to have been some “significant lapses” on the part of non-Secret Service, such as in communicating the threat that was first recognized as early as 5:01 p.m., about an hour before Trump went onstage. (This sighting has been verified through text messages.) Some sources have said that there was “a failure in the beginning” to get that information out.
But the locals dispute that, saying they did tell the Secret Service, who did nothing. “That’s all gonna come out in the wash,” Bongino says, as soon as we see these texts. There was also a radio channel that everyone was in on. Secret Service agents say it wasn’t until 5:31, a half-hour later, that they received a picture of the shooter-in-waiting. This information, Bongino assures us, “is coming from the top.”
It’s important to note that the Secret Service does not have the manpower to do its job without partnering with local law enforcement. Think of all the security needed for a major event --- it’s not physically possible for agents to cover it all. So right now, they’re in a politically delicate situation when it comes to blaming locals. Bongino’s advice to them is to not have an agenda but “just tell the truth.” That might be an unfamiliar experience for some...
A source also confirms that there was no aerial surveillance that day, not even one measly drone. This is “simply abominable,” Bongino says, because it would have easily detected the threat. It doesn’t help that the Secret Service posted on X that they utilized their best technology. Really, THAT was the best they could do? If the Iranians really are planning to assassinate Trump, they must be jumping for joy now, thinking how easy it could be.
We also have more of an explanation for why a counter-sniper (CS) wasn’t on that roof. Earlier in the week, according to Bongino’s source, the Secret Service had requested that a CS be placed there, but the locals said they didn’t have a CS, just a regular sniper team. (Yes, apparently there is a difference.) They said they “could do the same job from a second-floor window.”
“The Secret Service, sadly and tragically, agreed to that.”
The same source also told him that there was no ladder found at the scene. The speculation we shared with you that the shooter got onto the roof by stepping up on the air conditioner unit appears to be correct.
About two weeks before the rally, July 7, the shooter’s phone pinged at that location. So he was there scoping out the area. This was not some psychic break or a spur-of-the-moment crime of passion. It was, like most crimes of this type, pre-meditated.
The slight slope of the roof apparently did impede the line of sight for the CS team, and that seems to be why they were delayed about 10 seconds in taking the shot.
Bongino tells us that the CS team that took out the shooter was a Secret Service team, not a local team. We’re getting different stories on that, though, such as this one from THE BLAZE. It will take some time to resolve such discrepancies.
Bongino’s source tells him that this “was one of the most difficult shots that any CS has taken in a long time.” To make matters worse, there was a tree in the way.
Unbelievably, the shooter was just wandering around away from the crowd, with a range-finder. But he didn’t approach the metal detectors because he never entered the “secure” area. He didn’t need to!
And here’s a big piece: There’s a “working theory among very talented investigators” whom Bongino knows personally and will vouch for that the shooter had earlier intended this to be a mass-casualty event, a ground-based attack. They suspect this because he hadn’t set himself up with a ladder. (Still, it occurs to us that he might’ve just figured out in advance that he could get to the roof by way of the air conditioner.) Also, he’d used the range finder while standing in a spot that had no clear view of the stage. Maybe he’d thought at some point that getting Trump would be too hard and he’d just take out some of the crowd. If so, something changed his mind.
As the theory goes, he went up to the roof to get away from police who were watching him. Then he saw that nobody was up there (surprise) and he could just grab the opportunity and take out Trump after all, from there! Since the shooter is now dead, it’s going to be quite challenging to confirm this theory with him. Perhaps he made some notes.
During their Senate briefing, the Secret Service was not forthcoming (surprise), according to Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson. Officials stayed long enough to answer just four questions. After that, senators could submit questions and wait for them to respond. “Not holding my breath,” he said.
The main question Bongino demands an answer to is this: “Why was Donald Trump taken out of a secure vehicle, which can take a massive rifle hit, and put on an open stage with a man with a rifle on the roof?”
Also, since they weren’t going to have a CS team on that roof, why didn’t the Secret Service obstruct the line of sight? They didn’t hear about this problem last-minute and could’ve solved it with a big campaign sign. Lastly, why wasn’t there any aerial surveillance --- at least a drone??
If you don’t have time to watch Bongino’s entire podcast, go to about the 25-minute mark and see the video from the day of the rally of the lone shooter just wandering around weirdly in the background. Why didn’t someone approach him and check him out during the HOUR they had before Trump came out? The guy is so obvious. He has a RANGE-FINDER.
https://bongino.com/ep-2289-
Perhaps Bongino’s entreaty to agents to tell what they know is what led to whistleblowers approaching Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, and revealing security lapses. This is what he’s hearing...
These details from THE EPOCH TIMES mesh pretty well with what Bongino has said.
There’s strife within local law enforcement as well, as reported by local news WPXI. Two motorcycle cops from Pittsburgh who worked the rally --- a total of ten had been sent over --- and behaved heroically in the aftermath of the shooting after being hit by shrapnel and debris, were nevertheless transferred out of their unit just two days later. They were reportedly in trouble for never having received “permission to assist Trump” (what?). They dispute this, saying they did have permission.
Sources said there “were also concerns that some of those officers should have been available to help with the First Lady’s visit to Pittsburgh at the same time.” Apparently, “cycle units from nearby universities had to be called in to assist the Pittsburgh Police with Jill Biden’s motorcade.” How inconveeeeenient.
So, was this the problem? If so, it lends credence to the allegations that security personnel were diverted from President Trump’s huge assassin-magnet rally to work Jill Biden’s dinner event.
RELATED: The funeral for Cory Comperatore, the man who was shot and killed at Trump’s rally, is this morning (Friday). It’s a private service, but more than 500 fire trucks are expected to be part of the procession. On Thursday, hundreds of friends, family and community members paid their respects to the beloved firefighter, who bravely accepted the risk he faced every day in his job but surely had no thought he might die just attending a rally for his preferred presidential candidate.
There’s been an outpouring of love and support for Corey. You can read about it here.
https://www.wpxi.com/news/
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