Assessment on Trump - Secret Service admits: 'We have failed'.
After the assassination attempt on ex-President Donald Trump, Secret Service Chief Kimberly Cheatle admitted to a failure of the service. She took full responsibility and would do everything to ensure such an incident does not happen again, Cheatle stated in a hearing at the US Congress: "We have failed." The Secret Service is responsible for the protection of high-ranking politicians in the USA, including current and former presidents. The service has been under heavy pressure since the July 13th attack on Trump, which he barely survived, as a bullet hit him in the ear.
Cheatle addressed the serious security lapse at the US Congress on Monday. A shooter had opened fire at a campaign rally in the city of Butler in the state of Pennsylvania a week ago and shot at Trump. The alleged perpetrator had managed to position himself with his semi-automatic rifle only about 150 meters away from Trump. The now Republican presidential nominee Trump survived the attack by a narrow margin. One man in the audience and the alleged perpetrator were killed.
Allegations that Trump was not sufficiently protected
The incident was an escalation in the already heated US election campaign and raised serious questions about whether the ex-President and current presidential candidate Trump was sufficiently protected. The Secret Service has since admitted that in the past, it had not always met demands for additional resources for Trump's protection. The spokesperson for the agency, Anthony Guglielmi, had immediately dismissed such allegations after the attack.
However, on inquiry, he now explained: "In some cases, where certain special units or resources of the Secret Service were not made available, the agency has made changes to ensure the safety of the protected person." This includes other agencies taking on specific tasks. This could also play a role in further questioning Cheatle.
In response to the allegations of insufficient protection, Kimberly Cheatle, the head of the U.S. Congress's inquiry into the incident, revealed that the Secret Service had not always met the demands for additional resources for Donald Trump's protection. Cheatle acknowledged the need for a safety margin, expressing, "We must ensure that such a lapse does not occur again."
