‘A total failure’: Senators confirm the Secret Service knew about the shooter at least an hour before Trump’s attack

The Senate received a briefing from the FBI and the Secret Service (USSS) on what happened last Saturday, July 13, when Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt while starring in a rally in Pennsylvania. As far as the senators could tell, authorities identified the shooter as a "suspicious" character at least an hour before he pulled the trigger. 

This was confirmed by Senators John Barrasso (R-WY)and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), after participating in the briefing. 

As the Wyoming senator revealed, the Secret Service had identified the shooter as a potential danger at least an hour before the assassination attempt.  

"He was identified as a character of suspicion because [he had] a rangefinder as well as a backpack. And this was over an hour before the shooting actually occurred. So, you would think over the course of that hour, you shouldn't lose sight of the individual. Somebody ought to be following up on those sorts of things. No evidence of that happening at all," Barrasso said. 

The senator also revealed some briefing details, which the authorities were not very receptive to when the questioning began. "They shut it after just a couple of questions and didn't get to any of the meat of the matter," he added. 

Barrasso openly called for the resignation of the director of the U.S. Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, who President Biden appointed. "This is a total failure [on the part of] the Secret Service. We need a replacement at the top," he stated. 

"I don't trust the director Cheatle's leadership."

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) also spoke out after the briefing and said she was "appalled" after learning that the "Secret Service knew about a threat before President Trump came on stage." 

"I just got off a briefing with the Secret Service and FBI. I am appalled to learn that the Secret Service knew about a threat prior to President Trump walking on stage. I have no confidence in the leadership of Director Cheatle and believe it is in the best interest of our nation if she steps down from her position," she wrote on her X  account.