House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Thursday revealed a claim from unnamed whistleblowers that a member of the Secret Service said the agency had “limited resources” across the agency ahead of the rally where a gunman opened fire on former President Trump.
The claims as detailed by Jordan did not specifically say whether limited resources impacted Secret Service staffing at the rally or security preparations that may have led to the apparent assassination attempt.
Jordan detailed the whistleblower claim in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray in advance of a hearing next week, which was scheduled before the July 13 Trump rally and shooting.
In the letter, Jordan said whistleblowers told his committee that on July 8, several days before the rally, the Secret Service led two briefings with the Western Pennsylvania Fusion Center — which consolidates information sharing about threats among federal, state and local partners — and other stakeholders to discuss two visits occurring on July 13 in Pennsylvania: One with Trump and one with first lady Jill Biden.
“The USSS Special Agent in Charge Tim Burke reportedly told law enforcement partners that the USSS had limited resources that week because the agency was covering the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Washington, D.C,” Jordan said the whistleblowers told the committee. “FBI personnel were present at those briefings. While the Committee recognizes that the FBI is one of many agencies represented in the [Western Pennsylvania Fusion Center], it is the lead federal investigative arm and a key source of intelligence on potential threats for special events in its area of responsibility."
A Secret Service spokesperson declined to comment on the ongoing investigation, but said that the agency is "committed to working with the appropriate and relevant investigations of what happened on July 13, including with Congress, the Inspector General, and both internal and independent reviews."
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the whistleblower claims, while the FBI declined to comment.
Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi has previously said assertions that Trump’s team requested and was denied extra security are not true. He also said that a report that claimed resources were diverted from Trump to Jill Biden is “very wrong” and that the agency did not divert resources away from Trump.
Jordan also detailed other questions he expects the panel's members to ask Wray in the hearing, including why the rooftop of the building that the shooter accessed was unsecured and what coordination there was between various agencies ahead of the rally.
Wray and Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle briefed members of the House and Senate in two calls on Wednesday.
Senators were told that the 20-year-old suspected shooter – who left Trump with an injured ear and one rally attendee dead – had been flagged as suspicious by the Secret Service more than an hour before he fired.
A classified briefing for House members is in the works for next week, according to a source familiar with the plans.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is also promising a bipartisan task force with subpoena authority to investigate the assassination attempt.
