A Senate investigation concluded Wednesday that the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania was preventable and the result of sweeping failures by the Secret Service, some of which remain unaddressed.

In a stinging bipartisan rebuke, the Senate Homeland Security and Accountability Committee revealed that the Secret Service knew of increased threats against Trump, even sending a sniper for the first time to the July 13 event in Butler, Pa., but its agents on the ground were unaware of the threats and suffered from poor planning, poor communication, and even equipment failures.

“The Committee finds that USSS failures in planning, communications, security, and allocation of resources for the July 13, 2024 Butler rally were foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt that day,” the committee reported.

“The Committee also finds that siloed communications and coordination problems between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials remain unaddressed and were a contributing factor to the failures at the July 13 Butler rally,” it added.

You can read the full report here:
 

The report detailed how an inexperienced Secret Service drone operator was on the phone, trying to figure out how to operate the device as the assassination plot was unfolding.

It also noted that civilians and local law-enforcement both flagged the potential shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, ahead of time, and that local law-enforcement repeatedly had pressed the Secret Service to protect the rooftop where the shooter would take air at  Trump, and strike him in the ear with a bullet.

Crooks “was able to fly a drone 200 yards from the site, use a rangefinder capable of gauging the distance to the former president less than an hour before he began speaking, and bring two explosive devices within proximity of the site of the rally,” the report noted.

“The United States Secret Service’s (USSS’) planning, communications, intelligence sharing, and related security failures in advance of and during July 13 directly contributed to Crooks’ ability to carry out the assassination attempt and kill and injure people in Butler, PA that day,” it added.