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Documents subpoenaed by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs show major failures among the six U.S. Secret Service (USSS) agents who were suspended without pay in response to an assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024.
While the USSS had previously told Fox News that the agents were disciplined in February, the paperwork shows that five of the agents were not disciplined until April, which is when Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., subpoenaed the records.
USSS interviews show that the main site agent was unprepared and undertrained, and fellow agents said she had no idea what she was doing in Butler.
The campaign rally marked the first time the agent had secured an outdoor rally, and agents on the ground claimed she lacked basic knowledge, according to the report.
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The interviews also unveiled that several agents admitted the existence of major security concerns at the Butler rally, but none of them elevated the concerns or helped produce a plan to properly cover the roof that provided 20-year-old Thomas Crooks a clear shot of Trump.
The documents show that some agents in charge never even conducted walk-throughs of the site. For example, the lead advance agent, documents show, never did a final security walk through of the rally site because she was in the hospital for heat exhaustion, the special agent in charge said when questioned.
But the documents also provide a deeper dive into the six agents who were disciplined because of failures in the security detail.
SECRET SERVICE SUSPENDS 6 AGENTS TASKED WITH PROTECTING TRUMP DURING JULY 2024 ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
LEAD ADVANCE AGENT
The lead advance agent had 21 years with the USSS, with six of those years spent in the vice-presidential protective division.
Despite April documents showing the agent was suspended without pay for 21 days, the agent ended up getting a 14-day suspension. According to the Secret Service, the agent was the most senior and experienced agent on the advance team, yet she failed to secure the rally site.
The documents show the lead agent was aware of line-of-sight concerns, but she failed to address the issue or produce a plan to secure the building.
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During her interview, the lead agent said she did not know three local snipers were inside the AGR building instead of on the rooftop where Crooks was perched when he shot Trump.
COUNTER SNIPER TEAM LEAD
The counter sniper team lead had 10 years of experience with the USSS, with two years in the uniformed divisions and eight with the counter sniper program.
The counter sniper lead was suspended for 52 days without pay in April, but only had to serve 35 days. He is currently on official restricted duty status.
The agent is accused of not walking the entire Butler rally site and instead using “Google and stuff” to get a look at the grounds. He also failed to talk or collaborate with local sniper teams and never picked up radios offered by local law enforcement to communicate with other teams.
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The Secret Service said with the lead sniper’s level of experience, he should have known how to successfully secure the grounds. The sniper also said during interviews that he received text messages about Crooks being suspicious, but failed to alert the lead site agent and security room.
SITE AGENT
One of the site agents who was disciplined had five years of experience with the USSS and was originally notified in April that she would be suspended for three days. But the Secret Service changed the length of discipline to 42 days without pay, documents show.
The Secret Service said the agent failed to communicate that there was an active threat on the day of the rally, to the team on the ground. The Secret Service also said the agent blamed others for the security failures, but she was the one who was ultimately responsible for all security.
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After the assassination attempt, the agent spoke with a reporter and shared information about the behind the scenes of the rally, the documents show.
SENIOR SPECIAL AGENT SITE COUNTERPART
The senior special agent site counterpart had 20 years of experience, including experience dealing with presidential details. According to the documents, the counterpart was disciplined in April for 14 days without pay, though she argued she should not be punished. Instead, the agent blamed the site agent.
The senior special agent site counterpart was supposed to be responsible for securing the site and identifying threats, the documents show.
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During interviews, the counterpart told the USSS that the site agent she was working with did not know “basic things,” adding that it was not her job to “coach” the site agent.
The Secret Service also said local police emailed the senior counterpart their plans to secure the area, but she never opened or read the plans.
SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE PITTSBURGH FIELD OFFICE
The special agent in charge from the Pittsburgh field office had 24 years of experience with the USSS, and just days after the rally was placed on telework status. In November, the agent was reassigned to work with the cybertraining program, and in January he was told he would be suspended for 14 days without pay.
According to the documents, the agent said under questioning that he did not know there was a threat against Trump before the rally. The agent told the Secret Service that if he had known about the threat, he would have recommended moving the rally inside or would have asked for more resources.
The agent also told the Secret Service that the team assigned to Trump’s protective detail knew about the threats and were the ones who should have changed the plans.
ASSISTANT TO SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF PITTSBURGH OFFICE
The sixth agent who was disciplined was the assistant to the special agent in charge from the Pittsburgh field office.
The assistant had 24 years of experience with the USSS and admitted he did not prepare for the Butler rally. Documents show that without preparation, the assistant had little to no understanding of the security plan for Butler.
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Additionally, the assistant never met with the lead agent and never did a site walk though, nor did the agent participate in a site briefing or look at a diagram of the site.
As a result, the assistant was suspended for 10 days without pay in April.
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