An interim Senate report identified planning, communication and security failures in the forward and security efforts of the US Secret Service under former President Donald Trump. July rally who “directly contributed” to the assassination attempt against him.
The 94-page report, released Wednesday morning, cited nearly half a dozen problems, including a lack of chain of command, poor coordination with state and local law enforcement, insufficient resources and equipment and a failure to effectively secure the site and ensure safety. of the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania, incident.
The initial findings were part of a joint investigation by the Senate Committee on Security and Governmental Affairs and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
“Each of these actions is directly related to failures in planning, communication, intelligence sharing and law enforcement coordination efforts,” Chairman Gary Peters told reporters Tuesday before the report’s release. “Every single one of those failures is preventable, and the consequences of those failures are dire.”
Gunman Thomas Crooks fire eight rounds with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle from the roof of an adjacent building before being killed by a countersniper, grazing Trump’s ear, killing one person at a rally and injuring three others in the July 13 shooting.
The Senate report said some Secret Service officers had chronic problems with their radios. In one case, a Secret Service countersniper was offered a local radio to help communicate during the day, but he didn’t have time to take it because he was working on “fixing” his own Secret Service radio. Because of a radio failure on site at Butler, the special agent in charge gave the radio to the lead advance agent and was absent the rest of the day, according to the Senate report.
A text message sent by a Secret Service employee to the supervisor hours before the shooting warned, “I do not get good comms on either phone or radio. I will try to stay on (.)”
At the same time, the Secret Service’s drone unit had “technical problems” – until 4:33 p.m., Secret Service employees operating the drone system had to call a toll-free helpline for support. The report noted the agent had only three months of experience working with the equipment and had no knowledge of it.
The preliminary report also found that Secret Service personnel were notified of the suspect with a rangefinder 27 minutes before the shooting, but that the main service agent and other site officials told the panel they did not receive the information.
Another alert about an individual on the roof of a building was sent by radio from a local law enforcement officer to the Secret Service two minutes before the shooting. This was followed by another indication that the man was armed, but that message was “not relayed” to Secret Service personnel, the report said.
“Leaving the roof unattended, just so you know, barely more than 100 yards from the podium in a direct line seems like an unacceptable and untenable mistake,” said Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul, the committee’s ranking member. “Everyone thought that this person was suspicious and no one thought to stop the process and remove the former president from the stage.”
A counter sniper who was interviewed by the panel described seeing local law enforcement walk to the building where Crooks was positioned with a gun drawn, but he did not signal Trump’s protective details because “it did not cross (his) mind” to notify people to request. Trump exited the stage.
According to the report, a counter-sniper team was sent to Butler after “credible intelligence” of a threat, marking the first time a team of this type has been sent to protect other than the president and vice president. However, nearly all Secret Service personnel who spoke to the committee said they were unaware of the threat.
“Why did I hear about the threat on TV,” the agent wrote in a note after the shooting included in the report.
Secret Service advance team members were also denied additional resources, according to the report, and were “unable to identify” who had the authority to make final decisions for the event.
“It’s almost like an ‘Abbott and Costello’ play with the ‘first’ finger being pointed by all the different actors,” said Connecticut Senator Richard Blunmental, who chairs the permanent investigative subcommittee. “The truth is so much stranger than fiction.”
The Secret Service has not commented on the report. Last week the agency released the findings of its own “Mission Assurance Review,” which it found some communication problems and the lack of “with diligence” by the Secret Service.
Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe testified before the committee at the end of July, shortly after the panel opened its investigation. To date, it has completed 12 interviews, reviewed approximately 2,800 documents and conducted site visits at Butler. Additional interviews are expected in the coming weeks, but the committee would not say whether the investigation could expand into the second assassination attempt this month, which took place at Trump’s golf club in Florida.
The committee issued several recommendations, including improving planning and coordination, communication and developing intelligence assets and resources. It also suggested appointing a “single individual” to approve the agency’s security plan.
“We’ve put a lot of meat on the bones here but we’re far from getting the information we need,” said GOP Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, ranking member of the investigative subcommittee.
Scott MacFarlane contributed to this report.
Nicole Killion
