According to inside sources, the head of the US Secret Service is “the king of cover-ups.”
A veteran United States Secret Service (USSS) agent spoke to Fox News Digital about the agency’s operations and why it failed to thwart the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
“The three things that went wrong for us at Butler were poor communication, which is a leadership issue; lack of talent, which is a leadership issue; and poor use of technology, which is a leadership issue.”
Senators accuse Secret Service of trying to scapegoat local police after Trump rally shooting
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump is pictured surrounded by US Secret Service agents following an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The agent, who spoke to Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from his superiors, defended the USSS personnel at Butler, saying “it’s the people in leadership positions that should be fired.”
Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Ronald Rowe, in testimony before Congress on Tuesday, appeared to blame local police for not seeing Crooks on the roof of the building where he ultimately opened fire. But on Wednesday, the Butler County district attorney disputed Rowe’s testimony, telling Fox News that a local sniper was not responsible. I’m watching the rooftop.
“I think they’re looking for a scapegoat,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, told The Washington Times after Rowe’s testimony.
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Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service Ronald Rowe testified at a hearing of the Senate Joint Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Senate Judiciary Committee investigating the security failures that led to the assassination attempt in Washington on former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
“This is a lot of CYA. [cover your a–] “That’s how it feels,” added Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri).
A veteran agent told Fox News Digital that the USSS has serious recruiting issues, describing the agency as “terrible at retaining and recruiting.”
“They have people who are competent, but they’re going to do things in their own ignorant way. There’s a bit of arrogance there, if you will,” he said.
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US Secret Service uniformed police vehicle parked in front of the White House in Washington DC (Yassin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A new poll finds that most Americans don’t trust the Secret Service to protect presidential candidates from violence, following the mass shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania three weeks ago.
A poll conducted by The Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Policy Research found that about 70% of Americans believe the Secret Service bears at least some responsibility for the assassination attempt, and half of Americans believe local police in Pennsylvania bear at least some responsibility.
Only about a third of Americans say they are extremely or very confident that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, will conduct a full and fair investigation into the assassination attempt on Trump.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.
