Republican Rep. Josh Brechen of Oklahoma says the United States Secret Service (USSS) should have “uniform standards.”
Brecheen on Tuesday introduced the Secret Service Readiness Act, which aims to establish “uniform physical fitness standards for Secret Service special agents and uniformed officers” in the wake of the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump, who was injured during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania..
“We believe there should be one standard for Secret Service agents; there shouldn’t be multiple different ways to qualify based on gender or political beliefs. [the] “The Secret Service – if they want the opportunity to release their personal information to people who don’t quite meet the historical standards, let them do it. Don’t force it on everyone else and make them more vulnerable to assassination attempts. There should be one standard.”
Brecheen’s comments came after the Oklahoma congressman, along with other bipartisan members of the House Homeland Security Committee, visited the rally site on Monday to learn more about how suspect Thomas Crooks was able to fire at the president from about 150 yards away.
Trump shooting: A timeline of the assassination attempt
Members of Congress arrive at the Butler Agricultural Show in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 22, 2024. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
The assassination attempt and a series of security lapses and miscommunications that led Crooks to the roof of a nearby building and fire multiple rounds from an AR-15 at the former president and rally attendees, killing one and seriously injuring two others, highlight the Secret Service’s recent diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts that some experts have criticized as counterintuitive.
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The USSS did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital about the new bill.
Former USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned on Tuesday, was responsible for the agency’s overall mission of “leading a diverse workforce to protect and investigatively conduct its affairs,” according to the USSS website. Critics have accused Cheatle of prioritizing a “woke” ideology rooted in DEI, rather than focusing solely on recruiting the best talent for the agency.
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Cheatle acknowledged the security failings that led to the July 13 assassination attempt on President Trump.
Director of the U.S. Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle attends a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing in Washington, DC on July 22, 2024. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“To the United States Secret Service: The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leadership and financial infrastructure,” Cheatle wrote in a letter to the agency obtained by Fox News. “On July 13th, we failed to fulfill that mission.”
Cheatle said the “surveillance” over the past week had been “intense and will continue as the pace of operations increases.”
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“As director, I take full responsibility for any security failures,” she wrote.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Mr Brecheen said Mr Cheatle’s resignation was “days too late”.
“The moment she started saying she takes full responsibility, that should have happened,” the lawmaker said.
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Breaches, who visited the rally site on Monday, noted that the inner perimeter where the rally took place was the size of a football field and “separately guarded” by the Secret Service, while the outer perimeter was guarded by local and state police. The outer perimeter included 50 buildings within 500 yards of where the president stood, including a water tower that was unattended during the rally.
Members of Congress arrive at the Butler Agricultural Show in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 22, 2024. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Drone footage shows lawmakers climbing to the roof of the AGR building where Thomas Crooks was shot on July 13. (Fox News Digital)
“There were a lot of exposed areas around the perimeter for people to get on rooftops. A lot of white roofs, inside buildings, behind buildings. And yet there were no drones in the air,” the congressman said, noting that several drones were seen flying above the site on Monday as media captured photos and video of the congressmen touring the scene.
Brecheen also found that there was a 20- to 25-minute gap between when the shooter first spotted and photographed Crooks on the roof of the American Glass Research (AGR) building and when Crooks fired his AR-15.
“I know that 20 minutes pass between when I send a text message to a Secret Service agent saying, ‘Hey, I’ve got a photo of someone on the roof…'”
“We know that it took 20 minutes from the time the email was sent to the Secret Service agent saying, ‘I have a photo of someone on the roof’ to the time President Trump was shot,” Breacheen said, adding that the outcome might have been different “if there had been even one Secret Service agent with drone technology when that email was received.”
Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 15, 2024. Former President Trump was injured in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally at the showground on July 13. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
“The breakdown in communication, the lack of efficiency, and the fact that this system [officers] They texted photos back and forth, and then a local emergency unit in Butler County received the anonymous number from a Secret Service agent. [telling them] “There was a very good chance he would have had the opportunity to text this photo, which was taken on the roof of a building 20 minutes before the shooting,” the congressman said.
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Breacheen said any law enforcement representative on security duty that night would have had the authority to say “‘Hold on, get him off the stage.'”
“This is a major efficiency disaster,” he added.
Fox News’ Bailey Hill, Brooke Singman and Peter Doocy contributed to this report.
