The US Secret Service said it rejected some requests from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign team to increase security at his rallies in the years before the July 13 campaign assassination attempt.
In the immediate aftermath of the failed assassination attempt on July 13, the agency denied that it had rejected such requests. But the Secret Service admitted Sunday after the assassination of Trump that it had rejected some requests to increase the former president's security.
That admission is likely to be a major issue at a congressional hearing on Monday, where Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will appear before members of Congress, who have already expressed dismay at the security lapses that allowed the 20-year-old gunman to climb onto the roof of a building on At Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, he fires his weapon from there.
Trump was then wounded in the right ear, one participant of the meeting was killed, and two others were wounded.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Majorkas said what happened was a failure of service, while several Republican congressmen called on Chitlova to resign or be fired.
For now, Chitlova has the support of Democratic President Joseph Biden and Mallorcas.
Biden ordered an independent investigation. The Department of Homeland Security and a congressional committee are also investigating.
Trump says he did not receive any indication that a suspicious person had been identified when he arrived at the podium in Pennsylvania.
Some rally participants said in interviews after the assassination attempt that they saw the gunman climb the roof before Trump took the stage and that they notified the police and other security services, but that there was no response.
Trump also asked how the attacker managed to access the roof of the building carrying a weapon.
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