Lawmakers demand answers from Secret Service, Florida to launch investigation

A second assassination attempt was made against former President Donald Trump on Sunday when a man identified as Ryan Wesley Routh pointed a rifle at him from the perimeter of his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference Monday, that Florida will be conducting its own investigation into the incident, after Routh faced federal charges of felony possession of a firearm and possessing a gun with a defaced serial number.

“I did announce yesterday we’re gonna be doing a state-level investigation. I understand that the feds are involved, but we do believe there were multiple violations of state law, we also believe that there’s a need to make sure that the truth about all this, comes out in a way that’s credible,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis told reporters he doesn’t think it’s best to have the same people currently prosecuting Trump conducting the investigation of the assassination attempt.

“You know, I mean I look at the federal government, with all due respect to them, you know, those same agencies that are prosecuting Trump in that jurisdiction, are now going to be investigating this? I just think that may not be the best thing for this country. Nevertheless, they have their prerogative, and we have our prerogative, so we’ll be making an announcement further along those lines in the ensuing days,” DeSantis said.

The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club.

The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP…

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 16, 2024

Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino stated during a congressional hearing held recently that the Secret Service had repeatedly nixed security requests from Trump to properly secure his locations. Bongino added the culture has changed since he worked in the Secret Service and has now become politicized.

“From the commentary directed at some of the agents in charge of the Donald Trump detail, which I have heard about, clearly, it appears that for the first time in American history we have a Secret Service that is making decisions that might not be all political, but may have a political tinge to them,” Bongino said.

Bongino noted the Secret Service could have done much more to improve Trump’s security detail, but they were reluctant because they did not want Trump to look like a “big shot.”

“I would love to say ‘Congressman that’s the craziest thing I’ve heard,’ but I tell you with a pure heart…I absolutely believe Donald Trump and an enhanced security posture he should have had, would have made him look more presidential, would have facilitated the logistical operation of him traveling. I think they [Secret Service] were concerned about optics, and making him look like a big shot or whatever word you wanna throw out there, and they were making some of these decisions based purely on grade-school level politics,” Bongino said.

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said in response that he didn’t want to believe that agencies like the Secret Service and the FBI have become subject to political influence, but them doing so is very damaging to the U.S.

“I didn’t want to believe it, but I didn’t want to believe it with the FBI either, I didn’t want to believe it with the NIH either. I mean, a lot of these agencies that have been, I think, subject to political capture, we want to believe they’re above that…but just like in the military, just like at the FBI, I worry about the political capture happening at Headquarters, and then that culture in forming decisions, in a way that’s very damaging to the country,” Gaetz said.

Gaetz noted any devious intent that is found during the investigation into the Secret Service needs to be rooted out.

“\What Mr. Bongino just said, ought to be the most important work of the United States Congress, to figure out if these decisions were run of the mill incompetence…But if it’s something even more darker and more devious than that, that must be rooted out. Because what we’ve seen at these other agencies of government is, it does not cure itself. It has to be excised, and that investigation is the most important work we can do,” Gaetz said.

The FBI confirmed this was a SECOND assassination attempt on President Trump’s life.

Experts warned this would happen again.

We need to know why this keeps happening! pic.twitter.com/BxGvHLOumo

— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) September 15, 2024

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a whistleblower report on the first assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania in July. In the report, it states there was found to be a “compounding pattern of negligence, sloppiness, and gross incompetence that goes back years, all of which culminated in an assassination attempt that came inches from succeeding.”

“On July 13, 2024, former President Donald J. Trump was nearly killed by an assassin’s bullet while hosting a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Secret Service failed to prevent it. It was the most stunning breakdown in presidential security since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan,” the report states.

The report exposed further instances where the Secret Service failed – which included the agent who was responsible for overseeing the Butler rally failing a key examination during their training as an agent; intelligence units who were supposed to pair with local law enforcement to handle suspicious people were missing; and the hospital that treated Trump after the shooting was also poorly secured.

Whistleblower report on failed J13 Trump assassination attempt just dropped by @HawleyMO https://t.co/s7N96lFRkR

— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) September 16, 2024