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A new report from the Federal Office of Accountability (GAO) outlines the US Secret Service’s security failures amid a year ago a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which attempted to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Ordered by R-Iowa Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, the report reveals that the secret service received confidential information about threats to Trump’s life 10 days before the rally, but was unable to share information with other major agencies. They also identified a series of procedural and planning errors that have almost led to assassination, including “misallocation of resources, lack of training, and prevalent communication disorders.”
“A year ago, a series of bad decisions and bureaucratic handicap led to one of the most shocking moments in political history,” Grassley said. “The Secret Service failure on July 13 was the culmination of years of mismanagement, and came after the Biden administration rejected a demand for greater security to protect President Trump. Americans should be grateful that President Trump survived that day and was eventually re-elected to restore common sense to our country.
The campaign called for greater security, but Trump, who was denied by the Biden administration, was grazed in his right ear while talking to the crowd. Agents of the Secret Service flocked him, but he famously rose to his feet as he usd safely, raised his fist in the air and recommended a terrifying spectator to “fight, fight, fight, fight.” One man in the crowd, Corey Comperatore, was killed in protecting his family, and the other two were injured. Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old local man, was shot dead by a countersniper as he leaned over the roof of a nearby building.
“There was a mistake and it should have happened,” Trump told his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump on Fox News.
“Absolute Minimum”: Seeking more action after secret service agents stopped due to security failure
President Donald Trump is surrounded by US Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
GAO is the leading auditor of the US government. The nearly year-long investigation is the longest review of assassination attempts to date. The key findings are as follows:
Ten days before the event, high-level Secret Service officials were explained about the classified threats to Trump. “After these officials considered the Intelligence News, they could have requested that officials within their chain of command be explained about certain information.” Authorities failed to share this information, planning and leaving staffing practices for federal and local law enforcement agencies, unaware of the active threat, including members of the Donald Trump Protection Division. Local law enforcement officials told GAO that they had requested additional assets from Butler Rally.[ying] The vulnerability of the site was “unfamiliar with her role. The Butler event was to “plan and secure a massive outdoor event for the first time as a site agent.” At the time of the Butler event, the Secret Service had no formal policy for parental staff to request changes to their security plans. The campaign press did not interfere with the threat to Trump intervened to approve countersniper assets for the rally. This was said to be “inconsistent” with agency practices for making resource decisions. Without this final decision, Trump would have “not received the countersniper assets he ultimately took out.” [Crooks]”Gao wrote.
Fox News was confirmed ahead of the one anniversary of Trump’s first assassination attempt, in which six Secret Service agents were suspended without pay after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired on Trump at a rally in western Pennsylvania last summer.
Secret Service Change Agency attempted assassination of Butler after Trump
Supervisors and line-level agents were given a 10-42-day suspension in February without pay, Secret Service confirmed to Fox News.
And for more details about the Butler assassination attempt, see R-Wis. It happened when Sen. Ron Johnson of the FBI and the Department of Justice approved a subpoena.
Johnson, who chairs the Standing Subcommittee on Investigation, was co-author of the bipartisan Senate Homeland Security Committee report on last year’s assassination attempt.
The then Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump responds when multiple shots rang at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show on July 13, 2024 in Butler.
On the House of Representatives, the Assassination Attempts Task Force released its final report on December 5, 2024, highlighting “significant failures in the planning, execution and leadership of the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners.”
The report concluded that the shooting was “preventable” and identified inadequate advance planning, lack of coordination with local law enforcement agencies, and inadequate coordination of Secret Services by the US Secret Services. The Secret Service proposed practical recommendations related to both the July 13 security obstacles and the comprehensive structural changes.
Both the Senate and House reports followed Congressional testimony, including Paul Abbate, the deputy FBI director, Christopher Wray, and Secret Service director Ronald Rowe, who acknowledged the agency’s “failure” at Butler.
President Donald Trump is supported by US Secret Service personnel after he rang out a shootout at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show on July 13, 2024 in Butler.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cittle resigned within a week of Trump’s attempted assassination amid pressure and “takes full responsibility for the security lapse.”
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A day after Butler, the FBI released a federal investigation into the shooting, calling it an attempted assassination and a potential act of domestic terrorism.
Alexis McAdams and Alex Miller of Fox News contributed to this report.
Deirdre Heavey is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
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