Trump Asks ‘Who Killed Ashli Babbitt?’ — Just After Conservative Outlet Alleges it Was Pence’s Security Detail
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Former President Donald Trump issued a statement on Thursday asking for the identity of a security official who killed a participant in January’s unrest in the nation’s capital — just after a conservative website claimed it may have an answer.
“Who shot Ashli Babbitt?” Trump said in an afternoon email distributed by his Save America political action committee. The four-word message was titled, “Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America.”
Trump’s query came just after a report published the previous evening from an anonymous British Spectator author known as “Cockburn,” who suggested the culprit might be a member of former Vice President Mike Pence’s security detail.
“Sources close to and within the intelligence community tell Cockburn that Babbitt was actually shot by a member of then-vice president Mike Pence’s protective detail,” the publication said. “The VP’s detail, of course, is provided by U.S. Secret Service, not the Capitol Police. One person asserted to Cockburn over drinks in D.C. that this is ‘basically an open secret’ in the intelligence community.”
The publication said Pence’s team directed a request for comment to the Secret Service, which did not respond.
The Spectator noted the information was merely a “theory” that “points to a different explanation” than the idea that the individual who shot Babbitt was a Capitol Police officer. It is not clear who would have leaked the claim to the conservative website — though Trump has been vocal about his grievances with Pence since he certified Joe Biden’s election as president. Shortly before attendees of Trump’s Jan. 6 rally broke into the Capitol, Trump told the group Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.” He suggested in April that he may choose Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as his running mate instead of Pence if he seeks the presidency again in 2024.
Pence, meanwhile, has been steadfast in rejecting of Trump’s position on the issue, saying as recently as this month that it would have been “un-American” to deny Biden’s certification.
