‘They own this’: Ex-FBI official unloads on Secret Service for shirking responsibility after Trump shooting

Former FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi on Wednesday criticized the Secret Service for its response to its role in a gunman’s ability to shoot former President Donald Trump Saturday.

A 20-year-old named Thomas Michael Crooks got within rifle range of Trump by climbing to the top of a building close to Trump’s Pennsylvania rally. Figliuzzi on “Ana Cabrera Reports” said the assassination attempt depended on the Secret Service’s choice to put the building outside of their perimeter and purview.

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‘They Own This’: Ex-FBI Agent Unloads On Secret Service For Shirking Responsibility Of Man Shooting Trump pic.twitter.com/lZY8dCekwv

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 17, 2024

“Nothing we saw Saturday looked like enhanced security, increased security. It looked like they were trying to counter a state sponsor terrorist nation, trying to attack their protectee,” Figliuzzi said. “This all hinges on the Secret Service’s decision to put that building outside their perimeter and essentially, it sounds like, wash their hands of that building. That makes no sense, particularly since we’ve learned of this foreign state-sponsored threat, which must be taken seriously, by the way.”

U.S. authorities reportedly knew about an alleged Iran plot to kill Trump ahead of Saturday’s assassination attempt, with the Secret Service increasing protections for the former president. There is no known connection between the alleged Iranian plot and the Saturday assassination attempt.

“It’s not enough for the service to say it wasn’t our building. Point a finger over there. They own this decision,” he continued. “And the decision was wrong.”

Crooks grazed Trump’s ear with a bullet while he was speaking at his rally, prompting critics to condemn the incident as a failure by the Secret Service to safeguard the event.

CNN Law Enforcement Correspondent Whitney Wild asked U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle whether she increased “every element” of Trump’s security in light of the Iranian plot.

“What we increased was what we felt was appropriate for the former president and for that particular event on that day,” Cheatle answered. “We have been increasing the assets and the resources and the staffing that we have been providing to the former president since he was a presidential candidate and then the presumptive nominee and that’s what I can tell you.”

Wild said Cheatle’s response “sounds like a no.”

“I am not saying a no at all,” Cheatle said. “I’m saying we have continued to increase the resources that we have been providing.”

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said Tuesday that reported awareness of this alleged Iranian plan makes Saturday’s assassination attempt “even more glaring.”

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