Trump rally shooting review finds ‘deep flaws’ in Secret Service

An independent review of the July 13 assassination attempt of former President Trump offered a critical review of the Secret Service, said the episode “reveal[s] deep flaws” in the agency and called for new leadership for the nation’s protective service.

“The Panel’s work has identified a number of specific failures and breakdowns enabling the assassination attempt on July 13. The Panel has also identified various deeper concerns. Taken together, these issues reveal deep flaws in the Secret Service, including some that appear to be systemic or cultural,” a group of four national and state law enforcement officials wrote in a 52-page report.

The report, which includes former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano among its authors, was the result of the first outside review of the shooting at the Butler, Pa., rally that killed one rally attendee, pierced Trump’s ear and wounded two others.

While an earlier internal review by the Secret Service reached many of the same conclusions in terms of issues with planning leading up to the rally, Thursday’s report took a broader look at the Secret Service and was often critical of its internal culture.

The group called for “a new leadership team with significant experience outside the Service.”

Kimberly Cheatle, who was the Secret Service’s director at the time of the assassination attempt, stepped down after a disastrous appearance before Congress in which she refused to answer a number of questions lawmakers had about the attack.

The agency has since been led by her deputy, Ronald Rowe, another longtime Secret Service leader.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas praised Rowe on Thursday.

“We will fully consider the Panel’s recommendations and are taking the actions needed to advance the Secret Service’s protection mission. These actions will be responsive not only to the security failures that led to the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt but, importantly, to what the Independent Review Panel describes as systemic and foundational issues that underlie those failures,” Mayorkas said in a statement.

“I commend Acting Director Rowe for his leadership and for proactively undertaking security enhancements, including those informed by the Secret Service’s internal Mission Assurance Review.”

Rowe likewise said he would review the panel’s recommendations, adding, “However, we are not waiting to act,” and stressing steps the agency has already taken.

“We have already significantly improved our readiness, operational and organizational communications and implemented enhanced protective operations for the former president and other protectees. This includes making changes to better integrate with our state and local law enforcement partners and augmenting our protection with support from the U.S. Department of Defense and other agencies,” he said in a statement.

As for planning leading up to Butler, the report criticized numerous oversights, including a “failure by experienced, senior-level Secret Service personnel to take necessary ownership regarding the security planning and execution at Butler.”

The group also saw “a troubling lack of critical thinking by Secret Service” leading up to the attack when considering the possible risks faced by its protectees.

And the report also criticized “an ineffective ‘Speak Up’ practice … which did not sufficiently prompt numerous agents who were aware of [the would-be assassin] as a suspicious person prior to his commencing shooting to ensure that information was being passed on to former president Trump’s detail leadership.”

The report found that in Butler and elsewhere, as the Secret Service plans for events, there has been poor communication and a “lack of cohesion” between the agency and the state and local law enforcement it partners with.

In Butler, that included a failure to all be on one communications system, a technical challenge Rowe has previously said would not be easily fixed.

The report concluded that the Secret Service needs an integrated communications system as well as “a mandate that all outdoor events are observed by overhead technology.”

Beyond the independent report, the Secret Service’s failings that day are also being reviewed by a House task force probing both the Butler shooting and subsequent attempt on Trump’s life in Florida that was thwarted. 

Rowe on Thursday laid out his own actions taken in response to the shooting and adjustments made both before and after their own internal review.

“We are developing a comprehensive plan aimed at driving a fundamental transformation within the Secret Service to ensure we are appropriately configured to execute our dual integrated mission of protection and complex investigations. This plan focuses on increasing and retaining the agency’s personnel, modernizing our technology, and building a training plan that is sustainable now and into the future,” he said.

“We acknowledge that July 13 did not occur because of a lack of resources, however, our enhanced protective model implemented after July 13 requires additional people, equipment, and asset capabilities. The agency is also working with Congress to increase the agency’s budget so that we can make this paradigm shift a reality.”

Updated at 10:42 a.m. EDT