Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe lied to Congress when he said he didn't reject repeated requests for added security measures and assets to protect former President Donald Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, according to whistleblowers.
"Since your testimony before the Senate of July 30, new and disturbing information has come to light about Secret Service planning for the Butler, Pennsylvania Trump campaign event—and your own involvement," wrote Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote in an Aug. 1 letter to Rowe.
"The whistleblower further alleges that you personally directed significant cuts to CSD (Countersurveillance Division), up to and including reducing the division's manpower by twenty percent," he added. "The whistleblower also alleges retaliation against those within the Secret Service who expressed concern about the security at President Trump's events."
Had personnel from CSD been present at the rally, Hawley said, "the gunman would have been handcuffed in the parking lot after being spotted with a rangefinder."
CSD's duties include "evaluating potential security threats outside the security perimeter," Hawley wrote, adding that a threat assessment by the unit likely would have provided more measures to protect the rooftop of the building where shooter Thomas Crooks opened fire on Trump and the crowd.
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