Independent review finds systemic Secret Service failures enabled first Trump assassination attempt
The bipartisan panel of former law enforcement officials warned that “another Butler can and will happen again” and urged the agency to enact “fundamental reform.“
An independent, bipartisan review identified “numerous mistakes” by the U.S. Secret Service and “specific failures and breakdowns” that enabled the assassination attempt that injured former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
The panel, made up of four former senior law enforcement and government officials, also warned of another catastrophic security lapse if the Secret Service does not immediately undertake “fundamental reform.”
“The Secret Service has become bureaucratic, complacent, and static,” the panel wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the organization.
“The Secret Service as an agency requires fundamental reform to carry out its mission," the members added. "Without that reform, the Independent Review Panel believes another Butler can and will happen again.”
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the review. A spokesperson previously told NBC News that it had “developed a plan for an agency-wide paradigm shift” to address known issues around staffing, training and use of technology.
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