The decision to change the venue for Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday shows that injecting large sums of money into the Secret Service (USSS) will not solve the serious problems and limitations that the service must address. former employees told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Trump campaign had no choice but to do so. move Thousands of people gathered outside at the relatively small Prairie du Chien Area Arts Center in Wisconsin on Saturday after the USSS announced it did not have sufficient resources to ensure the former president’s safety. An event was held. Long-term issues stemming from a wave of retirements, hiring battles and internal nepotism will need to be addressed after the election, but former operatives say the USSS is working hard to ensure Trump’s safety without compromise. He said there is a need to change priorities in the short term. his outreach to voters;

“It’s going to be a very tough season leading up to Election Day,” former USSS agent Tim Miller told DCNF. “Unfortunately, the Secret Service has not been able to adequately protect him in the past, so they are playing catch-up.”

Congress approved $231 million in additional funding for the USSS in the interim government funding bill. passed On September 25th, authorities received significant attention following two attempts on President Trump’s life, one in Butler, Pennsylvania, and another in West Palm Beach, Florida, which nearly failed. It ended in The Daily Caller reported Wednesday that only about 20 percent of the Secret Service’s total budget since 2014 has been spent on protection operations.

But the central issue is not money or resources, but people, agents said.

“You can throw money at this problem all day long, but you’re not going to immediately fix what’s going on,” former USSS agent Michael Matranga told DCNF. “With this new budget, they plan to hire 400 new agents. It will take almost a year to train and acquire agents so that they can go out on their own or take unexpected lead advances. It’s going to take two to three years. So if we’re going to hire 400 new people, will that solve the problem? No, it won’t.”

In the second attempt on Trump’s life, an armed man named Ryan Wesley Routh camped out in the wooded area surrounding the Trump International Golf Course for about 12 hours, waiting for an opportunity to specifically target the former president. . An alert USSS operative, who had scouted Trump’s path through the course in advance, spotted the barrel of Routh’s rifle protruding from the bushes and fired at the would-be assassin, allowing him to escape before he was eventually arrested. I was forced to.

Given the resurgence of political violence in the United States, the agency has abandoned its role as an investigator for certain financial crimes and instead focused on providing the highest level of security to its protectees. Better, Matranga told DCNF. (Related: Despite soaring budgets, the Secret Service can’t seem to find the money to protect the president)

Former agent Tim Spieth said the agency is experiencing a wave of departures. “If we were to lose 10 or 15 agents a month, that would be a significant shortfall in our agent count,” he told DCNF.

Not enough spending: The U.S. Secret Intelligence Service’s budget has increased by nearly $1 billion since 2014, but only $200 million of that has gone toward protection efforts, according to the agency’s budget. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/xOpyILwRxx

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 2, 2024

Additionally, there is a significant culture of nepotism within the Secret Service, which exacerbates recruitment and retention problems, two former agents said. Former USSS agent Richard Staropoli told DCNF that it is common for agents to leverage personal connections to get into the USSS, just as they would in any other career path.

“Nepotism is rampant in the Secret Service, and the hiring of legacy applicants where someone’s mother or father or uncle held the job is rampant,” Staropoli said, adding that all of these people He added that he was not qualified for the position. The severity of the job. “At some point, you end up with a bunch of people who are just weight. Where do you put them? And what happens is, through attrition, these people start moving up the ranks and getting promoted, and then is the location of the Secret Service.”

Long-term issues aside, several former operatives believe the agency made the right decision to move President Trump indoors if the outdoor Wisconsin airport venue did not provide sufficient security for him. One agent said he expected a similar decision as the presidential election gets into full swing. The last few weeks.

President Trump believes that the change of venue and surrounding circumstances amount to blatant “election interference.”

President Trump: “Democrats are sabotaging my campaign by denying us the appropriate number of Secret Service agents we need for our national security.” I wrote In a post on Monday Truth Social, he mentioned the change of venue in Wisconsin.

A senior official briefed on the plan but not authorized to speak to the media said the U.N. General Assembly spread the USSS thinly and significantly increased the number of people receiving protection during the session. Additionally, the agency’s personnel and equipment are already under significant strain to support the “current operational tempo,” officials told DCNF.

“Former President Donald Trump enjoys enhanced levels of U.S. secret service protection, and our top priority is always to mitigate risk to ensure his continued safety.” said USSS spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi in a statement shared with DCNF. “Due to operational security concerns, we are unable to provide specific details regarding the resources allocated to event security and communications between agency personnel and protected persons.”

While some former agents believe the USSS made the right decision in Wisconsin, many of them believe the USSS will take immediate steps to address some of the long-standing problems facing the agency. He pointed out that there are still measures that can be taken.

Former agent Anthony Cangelosi told DCNF that the USSS could request agents from other federal law enforcement agencies, for example. He noted that these agencies should be prepared to give up staff, given that the election is only weeks away.

“This is going to be a national priority,” Cangelosi said. (Related: Suspect in second Trump assassination attempt pleads not guilty)

Field offices may need to send agents at a higher rate, Spies said. More use of local law enforcement officers may also be needed, but the USSS will need to work closely with them to “ensure they understand the process when issues arise.”

However, as the first attempt on Trump’s life in Butler showed, using local police and other non-USSS agencies to alleviate personnel problems is not without risks. For example, a major communication breakdown between Secret Service agents and local law enforcement forces allowed Thomas Crooks to fire several rifle shots at President Trump from about 165 yards.

“Sometimes you have to think outside the box when it comes to things like this, especially in dramatic times like we have, and I don’t know if they’re doing that,” Spieth said. he said.

Spiess, who provided staff for some of former President Barack Obama’s speaking engagements, said that even though the threat level was similarly high, “we still managed.”

“These things that exist now are not brand new or have never been seen before,” he said. “It’s about how they prioritize, react and adapt to situations.”

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