John Jefferson
Former President Trump had presidential-level security in place when officers foiled an attempt on his life last weekend, the U.S. Secret Service told lawmakers on Wednesday.
The House task force probing the July 13 shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, received a briefing from USSS after the incident at the ex-president’s golf course on Sunday.
During that briefing, officials told House lawmakers that Trump had nearly all of the same protections afforded to President Biden at the time of the second attempt. It had been put in place after the July 13 shooting, where Trump was injured and one attendee died.
“He had the same coverage as sitting president as he had last Sunday. And we’re talking mainly today with Secret Service,” task force Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., told reporters after the briefing.
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“I came away today feeling that the Secret Service on this past Sunday was treating it the same way as when President Trump was a sitting president.”
Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., the top Democrat on the panel, told reporters, “It’s our understanding that after July 13 that President Biden ordered the Secret Service to provide the same level of security to both Vice President [Kamala] Harris and to former President Trump that would be a presidential level security, commensurate with what the president would receive, and that that security is being provided.”
A spokesperson for the task force told Fox News Digital on Thursday that USSS told lawmakers Trump was getting protection “commensurate” with Biden’s.
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“There are a handful of specialized assets only the commander and chief gets, but the rest of his protection is at the same level,” the spokesperson explained.
“They also told us that his level of protection on Sunday was essentially the same as it was when he was the sitting President, many of the assets he had when he was President were there in West Palm Beach.”
Wednesday’s briefing was the first for the task force since USSS arrested 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh after spotting him with an AK-47 in the bushes near where Trump was golfing at his West Palm Beach course.
The July 13 Trump rally shooting has already served to heighten scrutiny on USSS, and it is prompted conversations about whether elected officials are being sufficiently kept safe in today’s hyper-partisan environment.
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The incident prompted condemnations of political violence on both the right and left.
The bipartisan House task force, which was initially created to focus only on the July 13 shooting, is now examining both events.
The task force is also seeking a briefing from the FBI on the Sunday arrest.
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