A federal whistleblower has alleged that the Secret Service's Counter Surveillance Division (CSD), which is responsible for threat assessments of event sites before an event occurs, was not present in Butler, Pennsylvania, on the day former President Donald Trump dodged an assassination attempt.

Further, the whistleblower claimed that Ronald Rowe Jr., the Secret Service's acting director following the resignation last week of Director Kimberly Cheatle, oversaw as deputy director significant cuts to the CSD, including reducing its manpower by 20%.

The whistleblower's claims were disclosed Thursday in a letter obtained by Newsmax to Rowe by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who has been among the congressional lawmakers leading the effort to uncover the security breakdowns on July 13, when gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks wounded Trump with a shot to the right ear, killed a spectator, and seriously injured two others.

Crooks fired from the rooftop of the American Glass Research facility about 130 yards away from where Trump was speaking before he was gunned down by a Secret Service countersniper.

Hawley and Rowe had a tense exchange during the acting director's testimony Tuesday in front of a joint hearing held by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs and Judiciary committees.

Hawley wrote that the whistleblower claimed if the CSD had been present at the rally, Crooks would have been arrested immediately once law enforcement spotted him with a range finder.

"You...

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