By Axios | Created at 2024-09-25 13:24:59 | Updated at 2024-09-30 07:19:41
4 days ago
Secret Service planning failures preceding the first assassination attempt on former President Trump were "foreseeable" and "preventable," according to a preliminary report from a bipartisan Senate probe released Wednesday.
The big picture: It's the latest fallout for the embattled agency, which has faced months of scrutiny and turmoil since a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one and wounding the Republican presidential nominee and two others.
Driving the news: The interim report from the bipartisan probe reviewed a number of security lapses, highlighting breakdowns in planning, resources, communications and intelligence.
- USSS officials in charge of the Butler site who the committee interviewed "could not answer questions about who – specifically – was responsible for determining the perimeter and who approved the designation of the perimeter."
Zoom in: Ahead of the rally, the Secret Service failed to define planning responsibilities; ensure coverage of the building where gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks positioned himself; or coordinate with local officials and provide sufficient security resources, like additional counter unmanned aircraft systems, per the report.
- The agency's counter-drone system experienced technical issues and was not operable until after Crooks flew his drone near the site, the report outlined. Acting USSS Director Ronald Rowe previously acknowledged the problem in his testimony before a joint congressional panel.
Friction point: During the rally, communications breakdowns led to law enforcement's delayed response. That left Trump and rally attendees exposed despite USSS being notified of a suspicious individual approximately 27 minutes before shots were fired, the report noted.
- The Secret Service's Security Room was notified of a suspicious person with a rangefinder near the building from which the gunman fired his shots.
- That prompted an "on-the-ground effort to locate the individual," the report found. However, the USSS lead advance agent, site agent and site counterpart all told the committee they did not receive that information.
Approximately two minutes before Crooks fired, local law enforcement passed reports to Secret Service agents that a person was on the building roof, the Senate report stated.
- Twenty-two seconds before the gunman fired, a local officer radioed that the suspect was armed — but that detail was never relayed to USSS personnel with whom the committee spoke.
- Just before shots were fired, a counter sniper saw local officers running toward the building with their guns drawn but did not alert Trump's protective detail to remove him from the stage.
- When asked who was supposed to secure the building, the lead advance agent did not give the committee a clear answer.
Zoom out: Intelligence about an Iranian plot targeting Trump led the Secret Service to send a counter sniper team to the rally.
- It was the first time such a team was assigned to a protectee other than the president, vice president or a formal party presidential nominee.
- The decision "potentially saved lives," the report found — but nearly all of the Secret Service personnel interviewed by the committee said they were unaware of any credible intelligence of a threat.
What we're watching: A number of investigations — both into the July 13 shooting and this month's second assassination attempt at Trump's Florida golf club — are ongoing.
Go deeper: What a Trump shooting witness saw from below the rooftop
