As more and more comes to light about an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump while campaigning in Butler, Pa. on Saturday, U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) says there are questions that Congress is going to ask when the time comes.
During an appearance on Mobile radio's FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," Palmer, a member of the House Oversight Committee, said he believed the Secret Service was understaffed, which led to security vulnerabilities.
Palmer also suggested that attitudes about Trump could impact the Secret Service's decision-making for protecting Trump.
“I'm on the Oversight Committee, and I had a conversation with chairman Comer, Jamie Comer, chairs the Oversight Committee, about where we need to go with this," Palmer said. "There's just a ton of questions that have to be answered. It starts with why was the protection detail understaffed as much as it was?"
"That's why a building less than 150 yards from the podium with a clear line of sight was not within the Secret Service perimeter. They didn't have enough people, Jeff," he continued. "So, that's the first thing that we got to find out."
"Who made that call on the deployment of the Secret Service agents? They only had one sniper team there, and they didn't have the best view of that building where they were. They had a contract team on another building that had a better view. It really concerns me that this was a deliberate or at least a negligent attitude toward President Trump's protection," Palmer added.
Jeff Poor is the editor in chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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