The Secret Service denied some of former President Donald Trump’s requests for additional security resources over the past two years, an official with the agency confirmed to NBC News.
The Secret Service official said extra security accommodations could not always be made for Trump due to the department’s limited resources. The Washington Post was first to report the Secret Service’s acknowledgement.
The requests that were denied did not pertain to the July 13 shooting at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally where the former president was injured, one person was killed and two others were critically wounded.
“In some instances where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protectee,” Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told NBC News. “This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protectee.”
Guglielmi’s statement represents a change of script. Last Sunday, he said the assertion that the Secret Service had rebuffed the Trump team’s requests for additional security were “absolutely false.”
In the wake of the attempted assassination of Trump, the Secret Service has been under intense scrutiny.
Lawmakers are pressuring the agency and its director, Kimberly Cheatle, to explain any security lapses that allowed a gunman to mount a rooftop 148 yards from Trump, open fire on the rally, and graze the former president’s ear.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., are among the top Republicans calling for Cheatle’s resignation, though she has maintained that she will remain in her post.
“Of course she needs to be fired,” House Intelligence Committee chair Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio., said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “President Biden should fire her. She’s clearly not going to resign.”
Turner will be among the lawmakers questioning Cheatle on the record this week on Capitol Hill where she is expected to testify in several hearings about what went awry in security protocols at the rally shooting.
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