Independent Panel: Secret Service Deep Flaws Led To Trump Assassination Attempt

10/17/2024 3:04:35 PM

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (KUNA) -- The Independent Review Panel on the July 13 assassination attempt of former US president and current nominee Donald trump issued Thursday a scathing report accusing the Secret Service of becoming bureaucratic, complacent, and static.
"The Secret Service does not perform at the elite levels needed to discharge its critical mission," the four-member penal wrote in its 52-page report.
"The Secret Service has become bureaucratic, complacent, and static even though risks have multiplied and technology has evolved."
It regretted that the Secret Service aspires to be the best protective service of high-ranking government officials in the world.
"This is a zero-fail mission, for any failure endangers not only the life of the protectee, but also the fundamentals of our government itself," it added.
The report uncovered not only numerous mistakes that led to the events of July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, but also deeper, systemic issues that must be addressed with urgency.
"The Panel has observed that many of the Secret Service personnel involved in the events of July 13 appear to have done little in the way of self-reflection in terms of identifying areas of missteps, omissions, or opportunities for improvement," the report said.
"July 13 represents a historic security failure by the Secret Service which almost led to the death of a former president and current nominee and did lead to the death of a rally attendee."
The panel said that even a "superficial" level of reflection would have been meaningful.
Plaguing the Secret Service are "corrosive cultural attitudes" regarding resourcing events - a "do more with less" attitude, according to the report.
The report also found there was a troubling "lack of critical thinking" by Secret Service personnel "before, during and after" the assassination attempt.
"A prominent instance of this is the fact that personnel had been read into significant intelligence regarding a long range threat by a foreign state actor against former President Trump, but failed to ensure that the AGR building was secured despite its proximity to the rally stage and the obvious high angle line of sight issues it presented," the report found.
Other instances "revealed a surprising lack of rigor in considering the specific risks posed to particular individual protectees."
"Many of the issues that the Panel has identified throughout this report, particularly regarding the Panel's "deeper concerns," are ultimately attributable, directly or indirectly, to the Service's culture," the report said.
The Penal stressed that the Secret Service as an agency requires fundamental reform to carry out its mission. Without that reform, the Panel believes another Butler can and will happen again.
"A refreshment of leadership, with new perspectives, will contribute to the Service's resolution of those issues," it concluded. (end)
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