00:00by former Secret Service member Barry Donatio. He's currently president of Public Security LLC.
00:05It's a private security intelligence and investigative firm. Thank you so much for
00:09being with us here on Weekend Debrief. So first and foremost, what was missing last week that
00:15should have been there to protect former President Trump?
00:19Well, it's always nice to have more agents, more police, any chance you get. I'm not quite sure
00:25of the numbers that were on site. I'm still waiting like everybody else to find out exactly
00:30what the investigation of what happened reveals. But you can never have too many agents, in my opinion.
00:37So I would always want more police, more agents on site for some event like this.
00:44And was Kimberly Cheadle correct in saying the buck stops with me? Is she responsible for the
00:49security breach? And how should that be handled? Should she step down?
00:55You know, that's a decision that she's going to have to make for herself and the Secret Service
01:02itself. The buck does stop with the Secret Service because the Secret Service is the overall authority
01:10on site for the protection of the President of the United States at an event like that.
01:15And some people have been critical of the female Secret Service agents. What are your thoughts on that?
01:23I have watched the video a couple of times as a whole. I think everybody did exactly what they
01:29were trained to do and supposed to do. The female agents, I think, did perfectly fine. I didn't see
01:38anything wrong or cowardly acts of anything. I seen them jump in front of a president while the
01:44president was being shot at. They did their job and they got him to the vehicle. So kudos to how
01:50few
01:50male agents. I'm very proud of them. And many people, especially online, have, of course,
01:56been speculating and putting out theories because we're waiting on actual information from law
02:02enforcement. Many people are saying that this was not a mistake. Some Republicans are convinced
02:06the Biden administration planned the attack to take out Trump. Democrats believe Republicans
02:11planned it to boost Trump's popularity. What are your thoughts on all of these conspiracy theories at
02:17this point? I think this was an individual that was deranged that decided that morning to get up and
02:25use a gun and try to kill President Trump. And until we get a full investigation and facts behind some
02:33of those theories, I wouldn't even be sucked into believing any of that until I see concrete evidence of
02:40such such a thing like that. And there has been some criticism even by former Secret Service agents
02:47of the agency's actions directly after that shooting. Specifically, we saw on video where parts of the
02:54former president's body were not protected by agents. He kind of poked his head out a little bit and then
02:59put
02:59up that fist. The escape route was narrow and vulnerable. What are your thoughts on those takes?
03:07You know, ultimately, they got the job done. When you have bullets flying and people trying to kill a
03:15former president and even agents, it doesn't look pretty. It's not Hollywood. I'm sure if we went to a war
03:23zone, we would see things we wouldn't imagine. So at that moment right there, that was a war zone. Okay,
03:30those agents kept their head in the game. They did exactly what they were trained to do. And it's not
03:35pretty all the time. It doesn't look spectacular, even sometimes maybe not even heroic. But it gets
03:43they did what they were trained to do. And they got him out of there. And he made it to
03:49Milwaukee. And we
03:50see him today now in a speech today. And it was interesting to hear that audio of the agents
03:56saying, you know, oh, shoot her down, shoot her down. And then they move the president. So we'll,
04:01again, as you said, have to wait and see all the facts as they come out. Former Secret Service
04:04agent Barry Donatio, thank you so much for your insight. We appreciate it. Thank you for having me.
