Secret Service admits ‘failures’ in protecting Trump during Pennsylvania shooting

The US secret service has accepted responsibility for the failures that led to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania in July and is demanding more resources in the future, a senior official said on Friday.

Acting Director Ronald Rowe briefed reporters on the results of the investigation into how a gunman was able to climb onto a nearby roof and fire multiple shots at Trump during a July 13 campaign rally in Butler. Trump suffered a wound to his right ear, one bystander was killed and two others were seriously injured.

“It is important that we hold ourselves accountable for the mistakes of July 13 and use the lessons learned to ensure we do not make such a mistake again,” Rowe said.

The investigation revealed “communication deficiencies” among law enforcement officials and an “over-reliance on mobile devices, which resulted in information being stored in silos,” Rowe said, stressing that key information about the shooter was transmitted by telephone rather than over the Secret Service's radio network.

The investigation also revealed “complacency” among some employees who had visited the site beforehand but had not raised concerns about “visibility issues” with their supervisors, Rowe said.

“The results of the Mission Assurance review have prompted the Secret Service to enter the accountability phase of this process,” he said, referring to the title of the agency's investigation.

“It has become clear to me that we need a paradigm shift in the way we conduct our protective measures. As demonstrated on Sunday in West Palm Beach, the threat landscape is changing,” Rowe said.

“This increased tempo of operations requires additional resources, not only to cover the costs incurred today, but also to ensure we have the tools, technology and personnel we need to meet these new requirements and continue to execute our mission in the future,” he said.

Second attempt to harm Trump

The results of the investigation were announced less than a week after a second assassination attempt on Trump. On Sunday, the Secret Service thwarted a gunman's attempt to target the former president with a high-powered rifle while he was golfing at his estate in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The incidents prompted the U.S. House of Representatives to unanimously support a measure that would give presidential and vice presidential candidates the same level of security as incumbents. The proposal passed the House on Friday by a vote of 405 to 0.

On Monday, a bipartisan congressional task force investigating the July assassination attempt in Pennsylvania announced an expansion of its jurisdiction to include Sunday's assassination attempt in Florida. The task force will hold its first hearing on Thursday.

Rowe said the agency has been providing “the highest level of protection” to presidential candidates since the July 13 assassination attempt.

“The former president was not shot. The former president did not know where he was on the golf course,” he said.

Expanding this level of protection would mean that the agency would “burn a lot of assets and resources.”

“This is not a utopia where you can say, 'Hey, we want this now.' We are not capitalizing on a crisis,” Rowe said.

Rowe declined to disclose the additional dollar amount the agency is requesting, saying talks with the Congressional Budget Committee are “ongoing.”

“The threat is not going away anytime soon, so we need to be prepared for it. And that's the argument we've made. We've certainly made some progress and we're having these productive conversations with Congress,” he said.

Rowe was appointed acting director of the agency after former director Kimberly Cheatle heeded loud calls for her resignation and resigned 10 days after the assassination attempt on Trump in July.

Rowe declined to provide details about who or how many agency employees might face disciplinary action, citing federal regulations that prevented him from providing further details.

“I'll tell you I didn't ask anyone to resign. I know some of that has been reported. That's false,” Rowe said. Rowe said the agency's integrity and professional responsibility departments would jointly decide on any disciplinary action under the agency's “discipline table.”

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