Secret Service turned down local drone 'repeatedly' ahead of Trump July 13 rally: whistleblower

PITTSBURGH – Local law enforcement repeatedly offered to provide drone coverage in the sky above former President Donald Trump's July 13 campaign rally – where he survived a failed assassination attempt – but was rebuffed by the U.S. Secret Service, according to Sen. Josh Hawley, citing a new whistleblower. "According to one whistleblower, the night before the rally, U.S. Secret Service repeatedly denied offers from a local law enforcement partner to utilize drone technology to secure the rally," Hawley, a Missouri Republican and member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. "This means that the technology was both available to USSS and able to be deployed to secure the site. WHISTLEBLOWER REVEALS WHY TRUMP RALLY OFFICER ASSIGNED TO SHOOTER'S PERCH MOVED Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. FBI Director Christopher Wray, whose agency has taken a lead role in the investigation, confirmed during a congressional hearing this week that the would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, flew a drone of his own overhead before Trump took the stage.