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Sunday marks the first anniversary of the attempt on Donald Trump’s life at his campaign rally in Butler, Pa. To make the occasion, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report on the Secret Service errors and lapses of judgment that led to the shooter, Thomas Crooks, to be able to get Trump in his sights and have a clear, unobstructed, easy shot. If Trump hadn’t turned his head at the very moment of the shot, he would have been killed on that day. And as damning as the new report is, it demonstrates definitively that the corrupt system that made the assassination attempt possible is still very much in place.
Fox News reported Saturday that “ten days before the event, high-level Secret Service officials were briefed on a classified threat to Trump. ‘Once those officials reviewed the intelligence, they could have then requested that personnel within their chain of command be briefed on the specific information.’”
But they didn’t. “Officials failed to share this information, leaving federal and local law enforcement entities planning and staffing the event unaware of the active threat, including members of the Donald Trump Protective Division.”
The big question here is why the Secret Service decided to sit on this threat. What were the political views of the officials responsible for the decision not to brief others within the chain of command? Were they leftists? Did they want Trump dead? Were officials in the Biden White House and the Democrat Party questioned regarding any possible connection to concealing this information? These are the kinds of questions that a really useful report would be answering, although the GAO’s report is damning enough even despite its careful avoidance of such matters.
The people assigned to protect the once and future president, meanwhile, were green and untested: “The Secret Service agent who was responsible for ‘identif[ying] site vulnerabilities,’ was new to her role. The Butler event was ‘her first time planning and securing a large outdoor event as the site agent.’” What an amazing stroke of bad luck, that on her first day in this important role, there is an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate! Or was that day chosen for this shooting precisely because someone knew that Trump would be more vulnerable than he had been previously?
Also, “at the time of the Butler event, the Secret Service lacked a formal policy for communicating a protectee staff’s requests for changes to security plans. A Trump campaign staffer had asked the Secret Service advance team, who was unaware of the active threat to Trump, not to use large farm equipment to address line-of-sight concerns near one of the buildings so as not to interfere with campaign press photos. The advance team complied, a decision which may have given Crooks a clearer shot at the stage from his rooftop perch.”
As such things so often do, this gets worse: “Secret Service officials denied the Donald Trump Protective Division’s request for enhanced counter Unmanned Aerial Surveillance (cUAS) equipment at the Butler event, as ‘these resources had already been allocated for the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.’ Fortunately, senior officials with knowledge of the threat against Trump stepped in to approve counter sniper assets for the rally, a decision which was described as ‘inconsistent’ with agency practices for making resource decisions.” Absent this last-minute decision, Trump ‘would likely not have received the counter sniper assets that ultimately took out [Crooks],’ the GAO wrote.”
After all these serious lapses, what was done? Was the Secret Service given a thorough housecleaning, and all agents removed who may have wanted to see mistakes made as Trump spoke in Butler? No. Instead, the response has been a small series of slaps on the wrist: six Secret Service agents were suspended without pay for periods of between 10 and 42 days. That’s it.
The assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler, Pa. was more than suspicious in light of the left’s relentless attempts to destroy him via lawfare and false charges of “insurrection” and “Russian collusion.” It’s very clear that the leftist elites wanted Trump neutralized forever. Would they have stopped at trying to kill him? A thoroughgoing, honest investigation is needed, not some token suspensions of Secret Service agents. Why hasn’t that investigation begun?
Are we surprised? ?????
Suffice it say, my confidence in Trump’s decision making is starting to waver. Not firing those SS agents outright is a bad look and sends a message to people like me that Trump is all bark and no bite and isn’t the tough guy he makes himself out to be.
To not severely punish incompetence is to tolerate it. Tolerance incurs undesired consequences……
Post game armchair quarterbacks – People are complaining about President Trump is the wrong focus for this one particular POTUS 47 administration. The accomplishments in still less than 6 months in office taking care of the most vital problems first. How spoiled and ungrateful people are – I’d say the vox populi – entrepreneurs are very grateful people
MuggsSpongedice:
Realistically, I have to agree with you. He can’t win them all and some of those snakes, especially the low level snakes, are going to slighter away before he can take “proper” action against them. Alas, it is what it is.
The deep state (and Crapitol Hill) is full of self serving two-faced back stabbing careerists who don’t give two sh*ts about the American people or our tax dollars. They’ve been getting away with their BS for years and will continue to get away with it for the foreseeable future. Moreover, they’re never going to be prosecuted so why bother going after them? Some things we can change, others we can’t.
In my humble opinion, all government employees, to a greater or lesser degree, are guilty of incompetence, malfeasance, pilfering, theft, etc.. It’s ingrained in the way government operates Proof? The national debt & deficits, medicare, social security, Congress, various government departments, bureaus and services, etc. for starters.
Ronald Reagan once said to the effect that the most frightening words in the English language is “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
The bunker buster that destroyed Iran’s nukes would suggest President Trump doesn’t tolerate threats.
I have no problem with him refraining from bluster, and letting an investigation proceed – as long as he’s making sure the prime movers that set up that “kill box” get fired and indicted.
(He isn’t ignorant of what they tried to do and have done to him. I don’t see him shrugging it off.)
To a certain extent I disagree with you but not fully. Perhaps I’m seeing ghosts of what happened to him in his first term. There we people around him that he trusted and should’ve been wary of.. E.g., Sessions, Pence, Mattis, Tillerson, Barr and Chao (who is married to Mutt McConnell who is no friend to Donald Trump.)
But it’s still early in his administration. Time will reveal who his true enemies are.
I love your take on this. Yes, he is loathe to fire people but very tough on the head of the snake as in Iran. Boom!! Bye bye.
Not sure what you mean or where you are coming from. He wasn’t in a position to fire anyone who the FBI etc. knew about, but didn’t bother to advise him.
None of the people defending him on the stage that day were on the list. That is a fact – so why would he fire them? Maybe check all the facts.
In other words, what happens in Washington DC is none of my business so sit down, shut up and keep my opinions to myself. Leave the matter to the vagaries of Washington DC where it will be quietly swept under the rug and forgotten. Got it. Business as usual.
Maybe get Israel to help restructure them. I don’t see how we can do it ourselves.
They only suspended the staff because the attempt failed if it was a success they would have been promoted to DEI level leader.
and we’d be flooded with millions more illegal aliens and a new kind of Marxism would be destroying the USA from within!
The US has already been partially destroyed from within. It will take years if not decades to undo the damage and that’s if we have the will to undo the damage.
Thanks to the America education system over the last 60+ years, I’m not so certain that we the people have the will or inclination to undo the damage.
Proof? Democrats are largely responsible for all the damage, past and present, being inflicted upon America. And they still keep winning elections! Claims that the dems win “rigged” elections is a dodge; an convenient easy cop out.
There were no mistakes or failures, just a series of carefully planned and orchestrated personnel placements. There is no reason for an investigation because they already know what happened. The only failure occurred when DJT turned his head and avoided getting his brains blown through the back of his skull live on CNN, which 90% of government employees, including the FBI, CIA, DOJ, and SS, would’ve considered a huge success.
Watch the film from that day. Why wasn’t there a team on the roof where Crooks was laying? It was empty
until Crooks got there. People walking around previous to the shooting-pointing up to the roof. Finally
someone climbed up and saw Crooks had a rifle but backed off and disappeared? Crooks managed to get
7 shoots off-SEVEN!!! THIS IS NOT AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE!? CROOKS IS SILENCED!!! God turned
the Presidents head!!!
When President Donald J Trump’s Guardian Angel turned his head at the right moment
And they all probably cried a river when the bullet missed. The deep state wanted Trump out of the picture in the worst way as did the dems and a few RINOs and neocons.
Chances are 50-50 that they’ll try again and won’t fail the next time. Trump had still better watch his back and keep his head on a swivel. The dems are more radicalized than ever and are desperate for power .
Democrats self righteously believe that they have a “divine right” to rule America. Their rhetoric and behavior certainly suggests that notion. Are they right?
The fact the Comey FBI rushed to destroy evidence tells us, without any doubt, they gave Crooks the opportunity.
An investigation is still required to nail down facts h names. (I’d start with who gave the order to wash Crooks’ DNA off the roof.)
Leftist pricks were horrified that Crooks missed, and more horrified by Trump’s resolute response.
We both want ’em more horrified by knocks on their door. (This time it won’t be parents who voiced concern at schoolboard meetings.)
In retrospect, I think it was a warning shot. A professional marksman would not have missed.
100 thumbs up on that!
We are coming up to the 6 month mark of the POTUS 47 administration – in the next 3 1/2 years what will we complain about? POTUS 47 administration is not like any politics as usual anyone alive today has ever lived through.
Nevertheless, the Secret Service on 7-13-2024 was as appalling as 11-22-1963 and they are highly suspicious of being part of the set up!
I’m STILL a Trump supporter…but he’s got me worried. Protecting “hotel and farm worker” illegals…not only keeping but PRAISING Do-nothing Bondi and Patel…NO corruption arrests or prosecutions…and now he’s complicit in cover up Epstein. This is EXACTLY the opposite of what I voted for. Oh yeah…and where are the mass deportations?
The Blood and Gore seeking Democrats and the rest of their Ilk Soros, Gates Schwab and the rest of them all
I personally think that the FBI and the secret service set Trump up they wanted him Killed no doubt about it in my mind and you can bet your sweet bippy the Biden administration knew about it and probably were behind the whole thing .The FBI was and is nothing but the US version of the German gestapo it was is out of control still is its own little kingdom the new guy has not done a thing to reform it not at all The secret Service has done nothing about finding out what took place they were in on the whole thing and if Trump had not turned his head he would be dead it came that close. They will try again before Trump’s term is up .They got by with killing Kennedy and they have got by with the Trump attempt .They talk about FBI reform ,reform my ass nothing has changed.
The fact that they rushed to cremate Crooks’ corpse & wash away his DNC confirms your point.
Comey is a chickenshit pretender who thinks like a child. That Butler set-up is the kind of scheme he’d dream up.
First question to ask the agents who power-washed the roof is “who gave that order?” and work up from there.
On his Substack Francisco Gil-White explores disturbing alternative hypothesis that entire event was staged like a WWE kayfave. Serious question: why was the Secret Service manager in charge of protection detail, Sean Curran, promoted to Director of the Secret Service whilst the other agents on the scene were fired?
“The big question here is why the Secret Service decided to sit on this threat. ”
Q.V. “the dog that didn’t bark”
We need to get over the fact that no one in US government will ever be held accountable for anything. Criminal behavior is acceptable at all levels because if you hold someone responsible you may have to be held accountable yourself. Therefore sweep all under the rug and go after those who can’t protect themselves. The normal average citizens.
I’m well over it. It is childishly naive to think that the US government will ever be held accountable for anything it doesn’t want to be held accountable for. Accountability is an ambiguous term that has very limited utility, if any at all, in the way our government operates.