The group filing suit contends the agencies are concealing information linked to the July 13 shooting in Pennsylvania.
A lawsuit was filed against the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a bid to seek records from the two agencies about the July 13 assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
The suit, filed by America First Legal, a nonprofit pro-Trump group that was set up by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller in 2021, said both agencies are concealing records connected to the incident.
Hours and days after the shooting, the group filed expedited public records requests to the agencies to obtain more details about the Secret Service’s hiring practices, staffing, and other information, America First said in its news release.
The Secret Service, it said, responded in July by saying requests about possible staffing shortages could not be processed on an expedited basis.
The group said that its lawsuit seeks documents on staffing issues, hiring, and employment standards at the Secret Service as well as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s communications to top Secret Service officials on July 13.
The news release and lawsuit also referred to comments made by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who told reporters this month that he believes Homeland Security’s response to Congress’s requests has been “totally lacking” and is “tantamount to stonewalling.”
The Epoch Times has contacted the Secret Service for comment. The agency has not issued a public response to the America First Legal lawsuit nor the senator’s remarks.
The suit comes as Ryan Routh, the suspect in what was apparently a second assassination attempt targeting Trump, is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 23. He faces felony firearms charges and made his initial court appearance Monday.
In the Sept. 15 incident, Routh is accused of camping for 12 hours near the perimeter of Trump’s Florida golf course armed with an SKS rifle, a camera, and two backpacks. Officials said Secret Service agents discovered that the barrel of a rifle was sticking through the fence before engaging with the suspect, who fled the scene and was captured miles away in another Florida county.
“There is no denying that President Trump currently faces genuine threats, and [America First Legal’s] requests would help to ensure that [the Secret Service] and DHS leadership are sufficiently trained and staffed to ensure the safety of President Trump,” America First said in a release. “The American people and Congress need total transparency.”
Trump narrowly survived the first assassination attempt on July 13 when a gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire at a rally where he was speaking. A bullet fired by the would-be assassin, who was killed by Secret Service counter-snipers, struck Trump in the right ear.
A House Republican and a Democrat have said that during the second incident, Trump had presidential-level Secret Service protection.
“He had the same coverage as sitting president as he had last Sunday,” Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), who is chairing the House task force probing the first assassination attempt against Trump, told reporters on Capitol Hill.
“I came away today feeling that the Secret Service on this past Sunday was treating it the same way as when President Trump was the sitting president.”
Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), the top Democrat on the task force, said that the coverage “was commensurate with presidential-level security and actually the same … security that he would have had—and did have—when he was the sitting president.”
In Truth Social posts, Trump has praised law enforcement and the Secret Service for their responses to both incidents.
“Most importantly, I want to thank the U.S. Secret Service, [Palm Beach County] Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and his office of brave and dedicated patriots, and, all of law enforcement, for the incredible job done today” at the golf course, Trump wrote earlier this week.
Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.