Top rated conservative pundit and 12-year Secret Service veteran Dan Bongino is reporting that a “small explosion” caused confusion during the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

The Secret Service veteran began by pointing out that a piece of farming equipment was hit by a bullet during the incident, causing hydraulic fluid to spray out partially onto the presidential motorcade. Footage from the scene shows the moment the farm equipment was struck.

“Apparently what happened after that is hydraulic fluid from that specific vehicle, given that the line was penetrated, covered a couple of vehicles and the motorcade, causing a little bit of initial chaos,” Bongino reported.

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It is unclear whether the equipment was struck by a bullet fired by would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was neutralized by a Secret Service counter sniper in what has been described as a “one-in-a-million’ shot.

Previous reports have confirmed that three weapons were fired during the assassination attempt. In addition to shots from Crooks and a Secret Service counter sniper unit, an additional shot was fired by a state law enforcement sniper team, which missed the gunman.

Bongino previously reported that the sniper who took down Crooks was not the sniper who has been seen in videos shared around the world. The sniper who took the shot was located roughly 400 yards behind.

On Tuesday — citing a trusted source in the Secret Service — Bongino reported that a “small explosion” took place during the shooting. “Now to be clear, there’s some confusion about what it was. Was there some fireworks at the scene? Was there something the assassin had brought with them that the hydraulic fluid, or something one of the shots had set off? Did he set it off? But the explosion is what led to the confusion about where they should go and where they still under attack,” the Secret Service veteran revealed.

“Combined with the fact that the hydraulic fluid had coated some of the motorcade vehicles, they had a little bit of an issue getting out of there. These are relevant facts.”

In the days following the assassination attempt on the former president, Bongino was the first to report that a state law enforcement sniper team was supposed to be located on top of the AGR building from which Crooks fired from.

It was initially reported that Crooks had purchased a ladder in order to climb onto the roof, though investigators now believe that he climbed an air-conditioning unit to gain roof access. The gunman is also believed to have hidden his AR-15 rifle — which belonged to his father — behind the AC unit.

Instead of being on the roof, law enforcement personnel were instead placed inside the AGR building. Crooks managed to climb onto the roof — located roughly 130 yards away from the former president’s podium — with the teams inside the building.

Security personnel did take notice of Crooks roughly an hour before the shooting, as he was seen lurking around the grounds. One officer snapped a picture of him before he slinked away before eventually returning.

Secret Service snapped a photo of Crooks as he lurked around the rally grounds. He was seen as a “person of interest.”

Once Crooks returned, he was not seen as an elevated threat until he climbed onto the roof. He was noticed by bystanders, who attempted to alert law enforcement that there was a man with a gun on the roof.

One local law enforcement officer — who had been assigned to a traffic detail — was hoisted onto the roof by a colleague in order to investigate. Upon being confronted, the gunman turned and pointed his weapon at the officer, forcing him to retreat. He then radioed in that he had confronted the gunman over a radio channel that was not synced in with the Secret Service.

“I want to add the Secret Service is now in a PR fight because they’re afraid to throw the locals under the bus. The locals don’t want to get in a fight publicly with the Secret Service. I’m just giving you a… I’m not placing the blame on one or the other folks,” Bongino said Tuesday. “It was a security failure and both sides clearly have some skin in the game here. I’m just giving you the facts.”

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