Politics
Bombshell Report Shares Details On Security Lapses Surrounding Trump Assassination Attempt
A new report from the Department of Government Accountability (GAO) shares new details on the U.S. Secret Service’s security lapses during the attempt on then-candidate Donald Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania last July.
The report, which was ordered by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), revealed that the Secret Service received classified intelligence regarding an attempt on Trump’s life 10 days before the rally. That intelligence was not passed on to other relevant agencies, however.
It also detailed a number of procedural and planning mistakes, including “misallocation of resources, lack of training and pervasive communication failures” that were evident in the days and weeks leading up to the assassination attempt.
“One year ago, a series of bad decisions and bureaucratic handicaps led to one of the most shocking moments in political history,” Grassley said. “The Secret Service’s failure on July 13 was the culmination of years of mismanagement and came after the Biden administration denied requests for enhanced security to protect President Trump. Americans should be grateful that President Trump survived that day and was ultimately reelected to restore common sense to our country.”
Trump’s campaign had requested additional security resources in the weeks leading up to the attempt, though this was denied while extra resources were routed to protect First Lady Jill Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
A bullet ultimately grazed Trump’s ear, missing his head by a matter of millimeters when he turned to look at a chart, when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a nearby rooftop. Retired firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed in the attack, while two additional Trump supporters were critically injured.
Ten days before the rally ,high-level Secret Service officials were briefed on a classified threat to Trump’s life. “Once those officials reviewed the intelligence, they could have then requested that personnel within their chain of command be briefed on the specific information,” Grassley said.
This information was not shared with relevant agencies and local law enforcement officials covering the rally, including Trump’s personal protective team. Local law enforcement officials told the GAO that they had requested additional resources in the lead-up to the event, a claim that was previously confirmed from officer-worn body camera footage.
In addition, the GAO found that the Secret Service agent responsible for “identifying site vulnerabilities” was new to her role. The Butler event was “her first time planning and securing a large outdoor event as the site agent,” Fox News reported.
At the time of the shooting, the Secret Service did not have a policy did not have a formal policy for communicating relevant security threats or gaps to a protectee’s staff in order to update plans. A Trump campaign staffer had asked the Secret Service advance team, who was unaware of the active threat, not to use large farm equipment to address line of sight concerns so as not to interfere with campaign photos.
The advance team complied with the request, which proved to be fatal, as Crooks would not have had a clear shot had the threat been addressed.
Secret Service agents also denied the Donald Trump Protective Division’s request for enhanced counter Unmanned Aerial Surveillance (cUAS) equipment for the Butler event, as “these resources had already been allocated for the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.”
Senior security officials with knowledge of the threat did authorize counter sniper assets for the rally, a decision which was described as “inconsistent with agency practices for making resource decisions.” Had this last-minute decision not been approved, Trump “would likely not have received the counter sniper assets that ultimately took out [Crooks],” the GAO wrote.
The latest report follows a 2024 analysis from the House Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which was co-authored by the Senate Homeland Security Committee Commission. The House side of the report further confirmed the existence of “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,” citing inadequate advance planning ,lack of coordination with local law enforcement and poor coordination by the U.S. Secret Service