Secret Service says it applied reforms since July 13 attack on Trump
The Secret Service said Friday it has carried out multiple reforms since the July 13 assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and signaled that the agency has not dismissed any agents for the security failures that day, according to a copy of a final internal report to be sent to Congress and other agencies.
The report said it had identified “several instances of behaviors and acts by multiple employees that warrant review for corrective counseling and, potentially, disciplinary action,” and that they would be provided due process under the law.
“All individuals found in violation of policies will be held accountable,” the report said.
Most of the 11 reforms detailed in the report are known: The agency granted Trump, the GOP candidate for president, the highest levels of protection available, measures that are typically for the sitting president, including increased staffing, ballistic glass, and additional technology to detect threats. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, also has that protection, the report said.
The service also expanded the use of unmanned aerial systems such as drones, and counter drone technology, to better monitor campaign rallies and other venues, took steps to improve communication with state and local police at events, and tapped other federal agencies such as the Defense Department to improve communications and security coverage.
The seven-page report, part of a larger, classified document, is the agency’s final internal review on the July 13 incident. Then-director Kimberly Cheatle resigned days after the shooting. Her deputy, Ronald L. Rowe, Jr., is now acting director and he has asked for additional funding and pledged to reform the agency.
The report, called a “mission assurance” inquiry, comes after an independent review ordered by President Joe Biden last month called for more sweeping changes to the agency, including new outside leadership, such as from the private sector or the U.S. military, to ensure that the reforms are implemented. Bipartisan House and Senate committees also have called for reforms.
One of the main failures identified involving the July attack was that authorities failed to immediately notify Trump’s bodyguards that officers were searching for gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, in the crowd. Crooks managed to climb atop an unsecured roof at the Butler farm grounds and fire several shots into the crowd, killing a rally goer and injuring Trump and several others. Crooks also flew a drone in the area earlier in the day that was not detected because the service could not get its equipment to work.
Other agencies still investigating the attack include the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the report said.