Northeast
Secret Service explanation continues to evolve one week after attempted assassination
The Secret Service’s explanation for security lapses that allowed a 20-year-old gunman to take multiple shots at former President Trump has continued to evolve, most recently with the agency acknowledging it had denied some requests by Trump’s team for additional security.
Revelations first reported by the Washington Post that the Secret Service denied repeated requests by Trump’s security detail were just the latest in an ever-evolving explanation by the agency, which initially pushed back hard on claims it had issued such denials.
“The assertion that a member of the former president’s security team requested additional security resources that the U.S. Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security rebuffed is absolutely false,” Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said the day after the attempt on Trump’s life.
But Guglielmi walked back that denial in response to the Washington Post, which reported that denials for more security for Trump had been an ongoing source of tension between his detail and headquarters for more than a year.
TRUMP SHOOTER THOMAS MATTHEW CROOKS’ FORMER GUIDANCE COUNSELOR SAYS HE WAS ‘NOT A MENACE TO SOCIETY’
“The Secret Service has a vast, challenging, and intricate mission,” he told the Washington Post in a statement. “Every day we work in a dynamic threat environment to ensure our protectees are safe and secure across multiple events, travel, and other difficult environments. We execute a comprehensive and layered strategy to balance personnel, technology, and specialized operational needs.”
Guglielmi explained that where the Secret Service might fall short of being able to provide resources, the agency typically leans on local and state law enforcement agencies to fill in the gaps.
“In some instances where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protected,” Guglielmi told Fox News Digital. “This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protectee.”
The Secret Service has also offered other explanations for the failures at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, with agency Director Kimberly Cheatle telling ABC news last week that the building the former president was shot from had a “sloped roof” that would have been dangerous for agents.
Two FBI investigators scan the roof of AGR International Inc, the building adjacent to the Butler Fairgrounds, from which Matthew Thomas Crooks fired at former President Trump, on July 14, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
PROFILER SAYS TRUMP SHOOTER, THOMAS MATTHEW CROOKS, LIKELY NOT POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, WAS ‘ORGANIZED THINKER’
“That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside,” she said.
Meanwhile, senators were told during a briefing on the incident last week that the Secret Service had flagged the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, as suspicious over an hour before he opened fire on Trump. The agency also revealed that a countersniper had spotted Crooks and flagged him as a potential threat 19 minutes before the shooting.
But the briefing left many senators frustrated, with many leaving the call and ripping the agency for a lack of transparency and failing to answer detailed questions.
“It’s infuriating,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital after the briefing, noting that Cheatle had admitted “there were mistakes and gaffes” by the agency leading up to the shooting.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle at a press conference on June 4 in Chicago. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
“This was kind of a check-the-box, quick briefing. Not providing information, only gives four senators an opportunity to ask questions… this is not providing the kind of information people need,” Johnson added.
The evolving story and lack of transparency have led some lawmakers to call on Cheatle to resign, with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, arguing that the “lapse” in security “requires a change in leadership” for the agency.
“The unexplained & inexcusable lapse in basic security measures requires a change in leadership at the Secret Service,” Cornyn said in a post on X last week.
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Northeast
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani set to earn nearly $260K, about 80% more than his prior salary
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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is set to earn nearly $260,000 a year, in line with the salary paid to his predecessor.
The figure is based on public payroll records showing that former Mayor Eric Adams earned $258,750 in total pay.
Mamdani previously earned about $142,000 as a state assemblyman, according to Ballotpedia, an increase of roughly 80%.
Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on whether he plans to accept the full salary or donate a portion of it.
NEW YORK CITY IS ABOUT TO TEST MAMDANI’S PROGRESSIVE ECONOMIC VISION
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers his inaugural address Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, outside City Hall. (Fox News/Pool)
New York City consistently ranks among the most expensive cities in the country, with housing costs far above the national average.
An annual salary of about $260,000 would place Mamdani among the city’s top earners, more than three times New York City’s median household income of roughly $80,000, according to the most recent Census Bureau data.
Mamdani posted on his Instagram account in December that he and his wife Rama would move from their home in Astoria, Queens, to Gracie Mansion, the official, rent-free residence of the mayor on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, in January.
MAMDANI DISPUTES ANTISEMITISM DEFINITION AMID BLOWBACK FROM JEWISH COMMUNITY ABOUT DAY 1 EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Gracie Mansion in New York, on Sept. 26, 2024. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg)
“This decision came down to our family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for,” he wrote.
Mamdani was sworn in Jan. 1 as the 112th mayor of New York City, becoming the first Muslim to hold the office.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts after speaking during his inauguration ceremony, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (Heather Khalifa/AP Photo)
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“City Hall will deliver an agenda of safety, affordability and abundance—where government looks and lives like the people it represents, never flinches in the fight against corporate greed, and refuses to cower before challenges that others have deemed too complicated,” Mamdani said in his inaugural address.
“In so doing, we will provide our own answer to that age-old question—who does New York belong to? Well, my friends, we can look to Madiba and the South African Freedom Charter: New York ‘belongs to all who live in it.’”
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Boston, MA
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Pittsburg, PA
Hemingway’s Cafe in Oakland closing after more than four decades
A longtime staple near Pitt’s campus is closing its doors after more than four decades of business in Oakland.
Hemingway’s Cafe announced Thursday that it will be closing for good in May after more than 40 years along Forbes Avenue in the heart of Oakland.
“Since opening in 1983, Hemingway’s has been more than just a bar – it’s been a home, a meeting place, and an Oakland staple for generations of students, alumni, locals, and friends at the heart of the University of Pittsburgh,” the bar said.
The bar said while they are sad to be closing, they’re also grateful for the decades of memories, laughter, friendship, and traditions over the years.
“Thank you for making Hemingway’s what it has been for over four decades,” the bar said.
A final closing date for Hemingway’s hasn’t been announced.
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