The Secret Service spokesman who falsely claimed in a statement that former President Donald Trump’s security detail was never denied requested assets is still employed, the agency’s acting director confirmed this week.
“He is still employed, senator,” Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said during a Senate hearing Tuesday under questioning from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Rowe said he was not sure who approved the statement.
Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, claimed in a statement posted on X on July 14, 2024, a day after an assassination attempt against Trump:
Theres an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo
However, six days later, Guglielmi walked back that statement in a Washington Post report that said that “top officials at the U.S. Secret Service repeatedly denied requests for additional resources and personnel sought by Donald Trump’s security detail in the two years leading up to his attempted assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday.”
The Post reported:
After receiving detailed questions from The Washington Post, Guglielmi said the agency had learned new information indicating the agency’s headquarters may have in fact denied some requests for additional security from Trump’s detail and was reviewing documentation to understand the specific interactions better (emphasis added).
Previous to the Post‘s reporting, Guglielmi had also personally denied to Breitbart News that requests from Trump’s detail had been rejected and asserted that assets to Trump had been increased in June. He told Breitbart News on July 16, “There was some inaccurate reporting about things were denied — that’s not true. They actually were increased.”
Now, as of August 1, 2024, Guglielmi initial post on X has a Community Note that reads, “This has now been confirmed as false. The USSS has now confirmed they did in fact receive requests for additional resources on former President Trumps security detail which were denied.”
During a House Oversight Committee hearing on July 23, 2024, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) asked then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle if she had signed off on that statement.
She at first avoided answering that question, saying, “The spokesman’s statement, I believe, was related to requests that were made for…” — before Waltz asked her again, “Did you sign off on it?”
She then responded, “For the requests that were made at the rally …” before Waltz asked a third time, “Did you sign off on the statement before it went out? I sign off on my press folks’ statements before they go out. I would hope you would in the wake of an assassination attempt.”
Cheatle finally responded, “Yes.”
Cheatle resigned the day after the House hearing, after her inability to answer lawmakers’ questions.
RELATED — “Well… That’s Bullsh*t”: Rep. Nancy Mace Blasts Secret Service Director for Dodging Questions
Committee on Oversight and AccountabilityFollow Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong on ”X”, Truth Social, or on Facebook.
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