The acting head of the Secret Service said Tuesday that Donald Trumps fateful golf outing Sunday was an off the record event that wasnt part of his official schedule, and that it did not bring widespread security sweeps for that reason.
Acting Secret Service head Ronald Rowe Jr. made the comments at a press briefing for reporters in Florida amid widening probes and continuing questions about how a would-be assassin could linger on the perimeter of the presidents golf course for hours and brandish an assault-style weapon.
Rowe was asked whether agents had searched the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Course Sunday.
‘It wasnt part of his schedule. So there was no posting up of it, because he wasnt supposed to have gone there,’ Rowe said.
A new charging document states that suspect Ryan Routh spent nearly 12 hours in the area in what the FBI says was an attempted assassination. He was seen fleeing the scene at 1:31 pm.
Rowe defended the level of protection at the Trump International Golf Course, saying it was essentially the same as it was in 2017 when he was in office.
Ronald Rowe Jr., the acting director of the Secret Service, speaks during a news conference by law enforcement officials. He was asked why the entire Trump golf course hadnt been swept while an alleged attempted assassin was there for 12 hours. Trumps golf came was an off the record movement, he said
‘Yesterday was an off the record movement. The president wasn’t even really supposed to go there. It was not on his official schedule,’ Rowe said. ‘And so we put together a security plan, and that security plan worked.’
The agent who authorities say fired on Ryan Wesley Routh had been walking the course ahead of Trump, who was moving from the fifth hole to the sixth when the incident occurred.
The Secret Service is under increasing pressure despite its leadership change after two attempts on the former president and GOP candidates life in a matter of weeks.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw raised eyebrows when he suggested Sunday Trump was getting a scaled back level of protection.
At this level that he is at right now, hes not the sitting president. If he was we would have had this entire golf course surrounded. But because he is not, the security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible, said Bradshaw. I would imagine that the next time he comes to a golf course, there’ll probably be a little bit more people around the perimeter, he added.
A charging document states that he was located near the tree line at Trumps golf course for nearly 12 hours
The suspect was was able to get a rifle into the vicinity with no official notice Trump would be there
A former top FBI official asks how Ryan Wesley Routh knew to set up near Trumps West Palm Beach golf course, and asked whether he had inside information
When a reporter on Monday asked if there was a miscommunication given that President Joe Biden ordered the highest level of protection for Trump. At that point, Bradshaw asked if Rowe wanted to take the question, and deferred.
You look at that footprint now and you look at it today. Theres not much difference there, Rowe said, saying the presence of uniformed officers was about the same as it was when Trump was in office.
Rowe said he spoke with former President Trump and said he was ‘aware that he has highest levels of protection’ that the Secret Service is providing. ‘If we need to ratchet up additionally we will,’ he added.
The comments came on a day former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker told DailyMail.com Routh may have had access to inside information, given that he was set up on a day golf was not on Trumps public schedule.
Said Swecker, I guarantee you, right now the FBI is going to muzzle that sheriff, and theyre not going to talk much about details, because theyre in the protection mode, particularly the prosecution, he said.
Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI Miami Field Office said investigators were still exploring the matter in the early stages of the investigation. We do not have information he was acting with anyone else at present, he said.