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The two men who were injured during the July 13th assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump say the Secret Service has failed them.

Both men, Jim Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, told NBC News in an interview that they believe the Secret Service was negligent in its duties that fateful day.

“I believe there was 100 percent negligence on the Secret Service, probably everybody involved in setting that security, down to inter-department communications,” Dutch said. “The negligence was vast. It was terrible.”

“I’m sure there was negligence,” Copenhaver concurred. “It wouldn’t have happened, had it been secure.”

When directly asked whether the Secret Service failed him and Trump, Dutch replied, “Big time!”

“The whole security setup was poor,” he added.

Their attorneys confirmed to NBC News that they intend to sue once they figure out who exactly to file a case against.

Both men were “critically injured” during the assassination attempt by deceased villain Thomas Crooks, with Copenhaver being shot in the triceps/abdomen, and Dutch being shot in the liver.

“It was like getting hit with a sledgehammer right in the chest,” Dutch said.

Copenhaver for his part revealed that he didn’t even realize what was happening until his sleeve got blown away.

“I turned around to my friend, and I said, ‘I think I was shot,’ and that’s when I got the second one and then I went down,” he recalled.

The shootings predictably left both men with ongoing health issues.

“Copenhaver said he has lost 30 pounds and now has to walk with a cane,” NBC News notes. “He still gets pain in his abdomen from time to time. Dutch said he still needs help tending to his bullet wound. He lost 25 pounds and can’t drive or lift more than 10 pounds.”

“I never thought I’d be in this position,” Dutch said. “I was usually the other guy helping other people out. It’s a struggle every day.”

He added that he’s “angry” at the security lapse that failed to prevent the incident.

“I was just angry that the whole situation even happened,” he said. “It should have never happened.”

The interview comes about 2-1/2 months after acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe held a disappointing press conference where he coughed up few answers.

“It is clear that the American people still have not been given the full story,” Sen. Mike Lee later complained to Fox News. “From the beginning, rally attendees and people with cellphone footage seem to have been more invested in stopping the shooter and figuring out what happened than the Secret Service itself. It is shocking that more officials have not been held accountable.”

Sen. Ron Johnson agreed, telling Fox News that there was “clearly a cover-up.”

“I do not believe acting Director Rowe was forthcoming, as the government rarely admits to being wrong,” he said. “I suspect that Rowe knows precisely who was responsible for this massive security failure and that this is clearly a cover-up. We need a detailed investigation and transcribed interviews to uncover the truth.”

“It’s obvious that this was an epic failure by the leadership of the Secret Service and DHS, whose main responsibility was to protect President Trump at this rally,” Sen. Rick Scott added. “Since the shooting, it seemed we got new information from outside sources but nothing from the agencies investigating this failure.”

“Unless we start getting daily press conferences, conspiracy and rumor will run wild, and trust will permanently disappear. The American people still have unanswered questions, and they want to know people are being held accountable for the admitted failures,” the Florida Republican continued.

In a follow-up press conference held about a month later, Rowe did, to his credit, admit that the Secret Service has a “complacency” problem.

“There was complacency … that led to a breach of security protocols,” he said, as reported by The Guardian.

“It’s important that we hold ourselves to account for the failures of July 13 and that we use the lessons learned to make sure we do not have another mission failure like this again,” he added.

Vivek Saxena
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