Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr. speaks during a press conference as the FBI investigates what they said was an apparent assassination attempt in Florida on Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump, in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. September 16, 2024.
On Thursday, the independent, bipartisan panel created after the first assassination attempt released a 52-page report calling for new leadership because the protective agency had become “bureaucratic, complacent, and static.” While Secret Service personnel risk their lives to protect high-ranking government officials, the panel uncovered rampant cultural failures at the agency and concluded that without fundamental reform, “another Butler can and will happen again.” Among other comprehensive recommendations, they said the entire top leadership should be replaced with personnel from outside the agency “as soon as is practicable.”
The panel said that agents “deflected blame” for obvious security failures at the Pennsylvania rally and on the golf course. In Butler, they uncovered that “no fewer than nine” Secret Service agents were aware that the gunman, Thomas Mathew Crooks, was acting suspiciously before the shooting.
With the threat of increased political violence looming in the run-up to the US election, the service has boosted Trump’s security to the highest levels – equal to those of Kamala Harris — adding agents and equipment such as protective glass at his campaign events. Nevertheless, this report will likely lead to a historic overhaul of the agency over the next several months.