In a Senate investigation that was made public on Wednesday, senators from both parties found that the Secret Service had several “foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt that day” mistakes in the lead-up to the July Trump rally, when a gunman opened fire.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s interim report indicated numerous failures on nearly every level prior to the Butler, Pennsylvania shooting, including in planning, communications, security, and resource allocation, similar to the agency’s internal investigation and an ongoing bipartisan House probe.
Democratic subcommittee chairman on homeland security and senator from Michigan Gary Peters stated, “The consequences of those failures were dire.”
According to the investigation, the Secret Service and other security agencies lacked a clear line of command and had no strategy for protecting the building from the shooter. A novice drone pilot was stranded on a help line when his equipment stopped responding, and officials were using different radio channels, which caused conversations to go unnoticed.
A “multi-step game of telephone,” according to Peters, described the communications between security officials.
According to the investigation, the Secret Service was alerted of a person on the building’s roof about two minutes prior to the shooting. Thomas Matthew Crooks then opened fire, shooting eight rounds towards Trump, who was speaking less than 150 yards away. One rallygoer was murdered, two others were hurt, and then a Secret Service counter-sniper killed the assassin. Trump, the Republican candidate for president in 2024, was hit in the ear by a gunshot or a piece of a bullet during the assassination attempt.
The investigation revealed that a local officer had transmitted a radio alert about an armed person on the premises around 22 seconds prior to Crooks’ firing. Senate investigators examined important Secret Service personnel, but they were not informed of that.
A Secret Service counter-sniper was also interrogated by the panel. This individual stated that they saw agents rushing toward the building where the shooter was positioned, arms drawn, but that they failed to consider alerting anyone to remove Trump off the stage.
In the days leading up to Thursday’s hearing by a bipartisan House task force examining the shooting, the Secret Service issued a five-page paper outlining the important findings of an unfinished assessment on what went wrong; the Senate report follows closely on the heels of that. Secret Service officials detained a guy with a rifle concealed on the golf course at Trump’s Florida club earlier this month; the House subcommittee is also looking into a second attempt at assassinating Trump.
U.S. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi made a statement on Wednesday in which he acknowledged that the agency has taken some of the recommendations made by the committee and promised to cooperate openly with congressional investigators and other oversight organizations looking into the incident that occurred on July 13. “The highest level of protection that the U.S. Secret Service can provide” has already been applied to Trump’s security, he claimed.
“Making sure our coordinated efforts during protective events are seamless requires us to address long-term challenges, such as improving communications and interoperability with our federal, state, and local partners,” he stated.
New facts have emerged from each inquiry that show how the former president’s security was severely compromised, and senators say they want to learn even more so they can make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“This was the product of several human failures of the Secret Service,” stated Rand Paul, the top Republican on the panel, speaking for Kentucky.
Prior to any protected event, the senators suggested that the Secret Service establish clearer duties and assign one person the responsibility of vetting all security plans. Investigators discovered that numerous individuals in positions of authority attempted to shift blame away from themselves by denying any involvement in the planning or security failings.
“That planning and security decisions were made jointly, with no specific individual responsible for approval,” the committee reported, citing interviews with advance agents.
It was also difficult to communicate with the local government. Two days before the shooting, local police had expressed worry to Secret Service officials during a walk-through about the building’s security coverage, claiming they lacked the personnel to secure it. According to the report, investigators were subsequently presented with contradicting reports by Secret Service officers regarding the responsibility of that security coverage.
The Secret Service’s internal review, which was made public last week, detailed various instances of poor communication. These included, among other things, a lack of direction for local law enforcement, “complacency” among some agents, and the failure to address line-of-sight vulnerabilities at the rally grounds, which exposed Trump to sniper fire.
U.S. Secret Service officials should be ashamed of themselves for this. Upon the report’s release, the agency’s interim director, Ronald Rowe Jr., emphasized the significance of taking responsibility for the July 13th failings and applying the lessons gained to prevent a repeat of such an incident.
The senators suggested that the agency increase intelligence sharing, reevaluate its communications operations during protective incidents, and clarify who is responsible for what more precisely. They further suggested that lawmakers assess the situation to determine if further funding is required.
Despite the Secret Service’s shortcomings, Democrats and Republicans remain divided on whether to increase funding for the agency. An additional $231 million is included in a budget plan that is expected to be passed before the month ends. However, some Republicans have voiced their belief that the agency requires an internal change prior to this.
“This is a management problem plain and simple,” stated Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who is the leading Republican on the investigations subcommittee of the Homeland panel.