Sitting on the tarmac waiting to take off, and I hope you’ll excuse me going way off piste to alert you to this astonishing piece by the Daily Beast’s Executive Editor, who was in the room next door to the latest attempted Trump assassin at The Washington Hilton.
This is also a great moment to tell you about The Daily Beast’s new substack, which was soft launched below the radar a few weeks ago, and has tons of free content.
Hugh Dougherty describes the chaos after gunfire broke out: guests and officials, including members of Donald Trump’s cabinet, being rushed from the ballroom while armed officers secured the area. When he later tried to return to his hotel room on the 10th floor, security blocked access because police were preparing to search the neighboring room.
He realized investigators believed the shooter had been staying next door to him, in a room potentially booby trapped with explosives.
It’s clear that hotel and event security failed at multiple levels. Dougherty says there were no meaningful luggage checks, ID verification, or screening for hotel guests entering or moving around the property despite the presence of high-profile political figures and a presidential appearance. He demonstrates that anyone staying at the hotel could freely access elevators, corridors, and public event spaces.
He also says it took roughly three hours for bomb squad personnel to investigate whether the suspect’s hotel room posed an additional threat.
Good god.
