“There aren’t enough facts,” LaCivita said. “Clearly the director doesn’t intend to talk bullshit.”
Trump spokesman Brian Hughes said LaCivita was expressing a personal opinion and had not discussed the matter with the former president.
Tensions have escalated in recent days between Trump advisers and Secret Service leaders, people familiar with the matter said.
In addition to the outrage over the failures at the weekend rally, Trump advisers were angered when officials revealed Tuesday that Trump had been briefed on an unspecified threat from Iran, unrelated to the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. They said the campaign had been warned to expect heightened security because of that threat against the former president, but had not been briefed on the threat from Iran, a hostile foreign power.
On Monday, Cheatle met with Trump campaign advisers in a Milwaukee hotel suite to brief them on the investigation into the rally shooting, but the meeting was at times acrimonious, people familiar with the matter said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting. The RNC clashed with the Secret Service this week over security and logistics, they said.
A Secret Service spokesman did not respond to questions about tensions with Trump advisers.
Trump is expected to resume campaigning Saturday with a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, his first since the assassination attempt and his first joint campaign event with Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), his running mate. After the shooting, the event was moved to an indoor arena, which is easier to secure than an outdoor venue, said people familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject. They said the campaign does not plan to hold outdoor rallies again in the near future.
For this Saturday, the secret service is asking for additional assistance from local law enforcement, some local officials said.
Kent County Undersheriff Bryan Muir said at a board of commissioners meeting that the sheriff’s office had received a “last-minute request for assistance” and planned to send 50 to 60 officers to the rally. A spokeswoman said the request came from the Secret Service. A spokesperson for the Grand Rapids Police Department said the department was also working with federal agencies to plan Saturday’s event.
The Trump campaign declined to comment on security issues and referred questions to the Secret Service, which also declined to comment on preparations for the rally, citing the need to protect operations.
Kent County Commissioner Walter Bujak, a Republican, said he plans to attend Trump’s rally in Grand Rapids and expects the security personnel to be “incredible.”
“They will obviously be under increased security,” Bujak said. “They will dot the i’s and cross the t’s this time.”
Federal investigators continue to look into security failures at Saturday’s rally that led to the former president’s injury, the death of one attendee and two other serious injuries. The FBI said this week that it is investigating the assassination attempt, calling it “potential domestic terrorism.” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said this week that the country is in a “heightened” threat environment.
Investigators have not identified a motive or indicated they have evidence indicating an ideological link to the assassination attempt.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are also demanding answers from FBI Director Christopher A. Wray after lawmakers said they were contacted by whistleblowers who said the Secret Service lacked resources for the Pennsylvania rally because of last week’s NATO summit in Washington.
A Secret Service spokesman declined to comment on the letter, citing ongoing investigations into the shooting, and said the agency would cooperate with congressional reviews, as well as an investigation launched by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.
Monday, The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued a joint intelligence bulletin, first reported by Politico, warning of possible attacks.
“The FBI and DHS remain concerned about the potential for further violence or retaliation following this attack, particularly as individuals in some online communities have threatened, encouraged, or referenced violence in response to the assassination attempt,” the bulletin said.
Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for New American Security think tank and a member of Mayorkas’ Homeland Security Advisory Council, said she would expect the Secret Service to deploy additional resources and manpower at events like the Grand Rapids rally to protect politicians and the public. She added that she would also expect “more active management from senior levels to make sure plans are in place.”
Michigan State Police referred questions to the Secret Service. “They are the lead agency in these events and we are only assisting,” spokeswoman Kim Vetter said in an email Wednesday.
Another Kent County commissioner, Iván Diaz, a Democrat who represents parts of Grand Rapids, said he had not been briefed on the rally by the Secret Service. He said that in February, Vice President Harris visited a church near Van Andel Arena, where the rally will take place, without incident.
Diaz said he plans to join the protests outside the arena in hopes that Americans will choose other candidates to represent them.
“The more candidates we have who demonize people, who portray political opponents as enemies to be destroyed, the greater the risk of political violence,” he said.
At the White House this week, Mayorkas sought to reassure the public that the Secret Service is operating at full capacity, even as questions swirl around the agency.
“I have absolute confidence in the United States Secret Service,” he said Monday. “And what you saw on stage Saturday, about individuals putting their own lives on the line for the protection of others, is exactly what the American public should see every day. And that’s what I do.”
After the shooting, he said, the service increased security for Biden, Trump and Vice President Harris, and granted Secret Service protection to Vance and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Mayorkas said officials have stepped up personnel and technology to protect workers, but declined to provide details because it involves “sensitive tactics and procedures.” He noted that the service has support from other federal agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration and Homeland Security Investigations, which fall under DHS, as well as state and local law enforcement.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a September report that the 2024 election season remains one of its top concerns. Campaign rallies, polling places, government offices and other locations could be attractive targets for “violence or threats,” the department wrote in its 2024 Threat Assessment, an annual report on the most pressing terrorism threats facing the United States.
Jacqueline Alemany and Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report.
News Source : www.washingtonpost.com
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