A Secret Service Special Agent in Charge (SAIC) in the Pittsburgh field office detailed in a handwritten memo that he was not made aware of any credible threats against former President Trump ahead of the July 13 outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and that he did not learn of the threats until the assassination attempt was reported on television.
in Preliminary Report In a report released Wednesday by the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs into the July 13 assassination attempt on President Trump, senators listed several significant failures by the Secret Service.
“Why are we hearing about threats against this site on television?” SAIC's Pittsburgh office wrote in a handwritten memo after the attack.
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After the July 13 assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, a top-secret agency official wrote a memo questioning why he learned of the threat on television. (Getty Images | U.S. Senate Report)
“Our country's SAIC [field office] They don't know anything about the threat and why only some people [Special Operations Divisions] It was enough to cover it, not the entire package,” the memo continued.
The report said Secret Service counter-snipers were authorized and sent to the Butler event because there was “credible intelligence” about the threat, but many of the Secret Service employees interviewed by the committee, including the intelligence advance officers and the field office's SAIC, said they were not informed of the threat.
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A screenshot taken from the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's interim report on the assassination attempt on President Trump shows excerpts of notes taken after the July 13 rally. (Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee)
actual,” [Secret Service] “The officials interviewed by the committee were aware of a credible threat related to former President Trump before July 13,” the report said. Only one of those officials was subsequently exposed to the underlying classified information about the threat.
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Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr. will testify at a joint congressional hearing on July 30, 2024. (Michael A. McCoy for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
According to the committee, the lead advance guard was informed by a second supervisor for Trump's security detail that “credible intelligence” was the reason for adding counter-sniper forces to security at the event. SAIC said that despite the advance guard asking the second supervisor to call SAIC about the “credible intelligence,” the information was not passed on to them.
Even after learning of the countersniper mission and “credible information,” the advance commander wrote in a preliminary investigation document:[a]At this time, no adverse information has been received regarding this visit. Any adverse information will be communicated to all work supervisors.”
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The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is chaired by Sen. Gary Peters, Democrat of Michigan. (Reuters/File)
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Secret Service officials told the committee they “absolutely” should have been informed of any intelligence or threats before deploying security for the rally.
“As a site agent or lead [Advance] “I'm sure the agent in charge has intelligence or information about threats against specific protected persons,” the field agent told the committee, according to the report. “I was just shocked to be there, planning to invite 15,000 to 20,000 protected persons to an outdoor event when there are threats of drone attacks. That's definitely one of the factors that raised my concerns, and I understand your concerns.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Secret Service Public Affairs Director Anthony Guglielmi said, “We have reviewed the interim report regarding the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. We recognize the importance of our mission, and in this highly dynamic threat environment, the U.S. Secret Service cannot afford to fail. Many of the findings from the Senate report are consistent with the results of our Mission Assurance Review and are essential to ensuring that something like what happened on July 13 never happens again.”
