Secret Service under intense scrutiny over attempted Trump assassination at Pennsylvania rally

Major questions are being asked of the Secret Service after Donald Trump was targeted by a lone gunman in an assassination attempt at his rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night.

The former president was shot in the ear around 15 minutes after he took to the stage at the campaign event in Butler.

He dropped to the ground and wasswarmed by his security detail who rushed him off stage to a waiting motorcade. He could be seen raising his fist in the air and mouthing the words “Fight! Fight! Fight!” He was later discharged from a local hospital and flew to New Jersey.

The former president thanked God for preventing the “unthinkable from happening” and said he would remain “defiant in the face of wickedness”.

On Sunday morning, the FBI identified the“subject involved” in the attempted assassination as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. He was shot dead by snipers.

Asthe investigation gets underway, serious questions are being asked of the Secret Service, whose job it is to provide former presidents with lifelong protection.

Follow our live blog for updates on the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump

On Sunday, Anthony Guglielmi, Chief of Communications for the Secret Service, was forced to deny a claim that the Trump team had asked for additional security and were refused.

“Theres an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo,” Guglielmi posted on X.

Jonathan Wackrow, a former Secret Service agent, told The Independent that multiple investigations will be launched following the