The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13 has led to a number of questions concerning the effectiveness and competence of those involved in the Secret Service and within the Department of Homeland Security, all of which must be answered, as the people of the United States deserve to know how in the world a 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who had zero military training, almost murdered a former commander-in-chief.
And now we know that officials also uncovered a plot to kill Trump put into motion by Iran, thanks to intelligence collected from a human source. Former national security adviser Robert O’Brien has stated that due to these “credible” threats from Iran, he requested that his protection detail be extended. This was declined for almost a year.
via The Wall Street Journal:
WASHINGTON—The Biden administration has declined for almost a year to provide security to Robert O’Brien, a former national security adviser in the Trump White House, despite behind-the-scenes pressure from lawmakers and what they describe as continuing threats against his life.
Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, wrote two letters to President Biden over the past year or so requesting that the administration reinstate O’Brien’s Secret Service protective detail, which was ended with no explanation on Aug. 1, 2023. Turner also met with the Secret Service and national security adviser Jake Sullivan on the matter, to no avail.
Now add this to what happened last weekend where we almost witnessed the murder of a former president and current White House candidate and it does not paint a pretty picture of the Secret Service. There have been more than a few incidents over the last 15 years or so that have caused folks to be concerned about the quality of protection being provided to those who occupy the Oval Office.
Back in 2014, a man gained access to the inside of the White House before finally being tackled by an off-duty Secret Service agent. The White House should absolutely be the most secure facility in this country. And yet, a man was able to get through all of the security measures they supposedly have and got into the president’s mansion.
via The Washington Post:
The man who jumped over the White House fence and sprinted through the main floor of the mansion could have gotten even farther had it not been for an off-duty Secret Service agent who was coincidentally in the house and leaving for the night.
The agent who finally tackled Omar Gonzalez had been serving on the security detail for President Obama’s daughters and had just seen the family depart via helicopter minutes earlier. He happened to be walking through the house when chaos broke out and the intruder dashed through the main foyer, according to two people familiar with the incident.
Gonzalez, 42, was the first person in modern memory to jump over the White House fence and get into the mansion, largely the result of a failure of numerous layers of Secret Service security on the northern fence line.
And there are plenty of other incidents like this since then. I don’t care who is in office, they are the leader of the free world and even if their policies suck bad, they need to be protected thoroughly. The Secret Service should be the most elite security team on earth. At one time, they were. Why aren’t they now? What’s going on?
Let’s hope we get answers soon.