U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan was on a bipartisan call with the heads of the U.S. Secret Service and FBI this week, being briefed on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
Sullivan was one of four senators on the call who were given the opportunity to ask questions about the state of security around Trump, who survived an assassin’s bullet on Saturday.
The briefing statements from the federal top law officials appear to have been vague and unsatisfactory. One senator asked about the use of drones in their security work. The answer was yes, but drones were not utilized in this instance because Secret Service had augmented their security with snipers.
Sullivan said he was able to get three questions in, and none of the answers were that helpful. The first question was why the manufacturing building outside the event where Trump was speaking had not been secured. The pre-event walk around the grounds by security officials showed them that the building was a real security risk. But the building was still not secured during the event. There were no police stationed on it or around it.
That building Crooks was on was outside the perimeter of the event itself, and so was the responsibility of state and local law enforcement in coordination with the Secret Service, so there was some kind of breakdown in communication, since Crooks was seen by many people. Secret Service is in charge of coordinating the security for such an event.
Officials told senators that up to 63 minutes had passed between the time Secret Service snipers first spotted the Thomas Matthew Crooks on a rooftop and the time shots were fired at Donald Trump, while he spoke at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, sources said.
The officials had again spotted Crooks at least by 5:52 pm, and Crooks was able to shoot at Trump at 6:12 pm. Crooks’ bullets hit others behind Trump, killing one man and injuring two others, officials told others.
Sullivan also asked how Crooks got up on the building. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle “literally said, ‘We don’t know yet.'”
In response to the briefing segment about a separate attempt on Trump’s life by Iranian operatives, Sullivan asked for more details on the Iranian threat and asked what the law enforcement arms of the United States plan to do about the threat.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the Iranian threat was unrelated to Crooks, as far as they know at this time, but that Iran’s lethal targeting of senior American officials has become “very brazen and aggressive.”
Some believe the reported Iranian plot to kill Trump is in retaliation for Trump ordering the drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps until his death on Jan. 3, 2020. Trump had killed the most notorious terrorist on the planet.
Since the shooting on July 13 in Pennsylvania, the Secret Service has come under withering scrutiny for its emphasis on “diversity, equity, inclusion” hires and not hiring for lethality, skill, and judgment. Secret Service Director Cheatle has been subpoenaed by the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
Many questions are unanswered, with top federal law enforcement officials not revealing as much information as an average citizen could gather by simply reviewing video footage taken by hundreds of people at the event, all of which is widely available now on social media.
He is insulting Alaska by attending these charades.
Princess? Hello Princess?
Not at all curious about a massive failure in the protective arm of government?
Or are you too busy fishing with Mary?
She was cheering the creep shooting at Trump she’d rather it happened again!!
In light of the Iranian threats, it makes this assassination attempt and the lax or incompetent security that much more worrisome.
I figured we were about to get caught with our pants around our ankles. Completely incompetent secret service. My god she couldn’t even re holster her side arm. I’m praying our military is in more competent shape than our rainbow flags and equity secret service. We are being laughed at by every country on the globe. Whatever we do we don’t want to hire the best when we can hire some fool with purple hair and a tackle box hanging from their face.
Doug Glenn,
I love the tackle box quip! 🤣
What good will come from the liars in charge?
These questions are nearly as tough as the ones he had with that National Park Service lady! You don’t want to mess with this guy.
The guy was a lone wolf looking to make a name for himself. It worked but at the cost of his life. Now his name is etched in history. Just like so many other “quacks” before him. Can’t erase history but it the media would quit glorifying them by telling their life story, that would help.
I wonder if one of the “tough” questions Sullivan asked was if the water tower, which was also in the line of sight of the Trump rally podium, was secured? At 400 yards it would be a tough shot, but certainly doable for a professional sniper. A handful of witnesses have testified to seeing someone on the tower.
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