Several top Secret Service officials are stepping down as the agency braces for the release of a damning internal investigation report, which scrutinizes the failures leading up to the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
The attack, which resulted in the death of retired firefighter Corey Comperatore and wounded three others, including Trump, exposed significant lapses in security coordination and communication, particularly between the Secret Service and local law enforcement.
According to a Washington Post report, the findings are expected to heavily criticize the agency for not securing the rooftop from which the gunman, Thomas Matthew-Crooks, fired during the rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
In addition, the report will highlight the agency’s failure to communicate with local authorities, who had alerted them about Crooks. This failure, combined with the fact that the Secret Service skipped a pre-event briefing and were not synced with local law enforcement radios, compounded the security breakdown that allowed the attack to unfold.
Ahead of the report’s public release, several high-ranking agents have already resigned. Mike Plati, the assistant director of the Office of Protective Operations, retired last week, and John Buckley, a senior official responsible for public event security, is also set to step down. A senior agent from the Pittsburgh field office, which oversaw the event’s security, is also expected to leave.
The agents directly involved in Trump’s protective detail on the day of the attack have been placed on administrative leave, while former Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle resigned just days after the assassination attempt. Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe is now overseeing the agency’s internal review.
The report is expected to reveal significant failures within the Secret Service’s operations. One of the most glaring issues was the agency’s lack of real-time threat monitoring capability, as the radio room was unable to receive immediate alerts from local police.
Despite rallygoers and police spotting Crooks acting suspiciously on a rooftop, communication between local law enforcement and the Secret Service was so disjointed that the counter-snipers on duty were told only to take a photo of the suspect and continue observing. Tragically, Crooks was able to fire upon the crowd, killing Comperatore and injuring others, including Trump.
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) hinted earlier this week that the findings would be “shocking” and “appalling” to the public, emphasizing the gravity of the Secret Service’s failures.
Acting Director Rowe has acknowledged that “numerous errors” were made on July 13, and he has committed to conducting an agency-wide review aimed at strengthening security measures around the high-profile individuals the Secret Service is tasked with protecting. In his statement to the Washington Post, Rowe stressed the need for increased funding to support the agency’s mission, noting that the current strategy of doing “more with less” is no longer sustainable in the face of rising threats to national security.
