Authorities handling security at the Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt, are pushing back on claims that Trump was denied requests for additional security.
The US Secret Service has called the claim “absolutely false.”
“There’s 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,” Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi wrote in a post on X Sunday morning.
The FBI also pushed back on the implication Saturday night.
“There was no additional request for security that was ever denied by the FBI,” Kevin Rojek, the FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh office, said during a news conference Saturday night.
At least one lawmaker has publicly claimed on social media that Trump’s requests for heightened security were rejected.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas released a statement regarding the shooting, where he said the DHS and Secret Service are jointly working with law enforcement on the investigation.
