OAN Staff Blake Wolf
11:47am – Thursday, September 26, 2024
A new Senate report reveals that the U.S. secret agent in charge of former President Donald Trump's July 13th A gathering in Butler, Pennsylvania, was aware of “credible information” about a serious safety threat but did not pass the information on to event planners or superiors.
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In a report released Wednesday by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the lead Secret Service agent in charge of Trump's rallies said in a security planning document that It was revealed that he had said that there was “no adverse information” regarding the matter. Butler rallied despite her own “prior knowledge of an unspecified threat.”
Additionally, the lead agent in question told Senate investigators that he had notified the Special Agent in Charge (SAIC) of the Secret Service's Pittsburgh field office of “credible information” before the rally. But after she contacted and spoke directly to SAIC in Pittsburgh, he disputed her claims and told Senate officials he had not been informed or had any knowledge of the matter.
Pittsburgh SAIC later told investigators that if the suspect had known about the threat, the gathering likely would have been moved to an indoor location to reduce potential risk.
The 94-page report also cited security failures, including a lack of chain of command, poor coordination between state and local law enforcement, insufficient equipment and resources, and a failure to effectively secure gathering venues. Mentioned.
Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, came close to killing the former president on live television. The impostor climbed onto the roof of a nearby building and moments later fired eight shots from an AK-47-style gun at President Trump. Nevertheless, the former president turned him around and moved his head at the precise moment of the gunshot, so the gunman only hit President Trump on the side of his right ear.
But 50-year-old rally participant Corey Comperatore and two others weren't so lucky. Comperatore died that day after being hit by crossfire, but the other two were quickly taken to hospital.
As for the Senate report, it also revealed that counter-snipers were on the scene thanks to “credible intelligence” about the threat, but the majority of Secret Service officials who spoke to the committee remained unaware of the threat. insisted.
Secret Service officials said they were “unable to determine” who had the final say during Trump's event.
“It was like an 'Abbot and Costello' farce, with everyone in the cast pointing fingers at 'Who's first?'” said Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “The truth was stranger than fiction.''
“Each of these actions is directly related to failures in the U.S. Secret Service's planning, communications, information sharing, and law enforcement coordination efforts,” Commissioner Gary Peters said Tuesday. “All of these failures were preventable, but the consequences of failure were dire.”
Despite the terrible mistake by the lead investigator and other Secret Service members, when investigators were questioned about their findings of security flaws, they still refused to accept responsibility.
The lead agent's identity has not been made public, but during a hearing with Secret Service Director Ronald Lowe in July, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) said of the lead agent, “I know the name. ” he said.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi also said the agency had reviewed the report and that the committee's findings were consistent with many of the Secret Service's “mission assurance reviews,” and that there were multiple communication issues and “due diligence issues.” He said he agreed that the lack of
“The weight of our mission is not lost on us, and in this highly dynamic threat environment, the U.S. Secret Intelligence Service cannot fail,” Guglielmi said. “Many of the insights gained from the Senate report are consistent with the findings of our Mission Assurance Review and are essential to ensuring that what happened on July 13th never happens again.”
The committee has reportedly completed 12 interviews, reviewed approximately 2,800 documents, and conducted a field inspection of the Butler meeting site, with additional interviews expected to be conducted in the coming weeks. It is planned that
Committee aides have not confirmed whether the probe into Trump's second assassination attempt at his West Palm Beach golf club earlier this month will expand or continue. However, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced at a recent Justice Department event that the department would “not waste resources” investigating the second case.
“We've gathered a lot of information here, but we're a long way from getting the information we need,” said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a member of the investigation subcommittee.
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