Senior-level Secret Service officials failed to share “classified threat information” related to President Trump with those assigned to protect him during the Pennsylvania campaign rally where he was nearly assassinated, according to a congressional watchdog report.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found the classified intelligence had been presented to Secret Service officials a full 10 days before the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, but the agency’s “siloed practice for sharing” sensitive information resulted in few being aware of the threat against Trump’s life.
“[T]he Secret Service had no process to share classified threat information with partners when the information was not considered an imminent threat to life,” read the GAO report, released Saturday by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
The nature of the threat, described as “highly classified” by Secret Service officials in the report, is not explained.
“Secret Service and local law enforcement personnel central to developing site security plans for the rally were unaware of the threat,” the report notes, explaining members of the agency’s advance team assigned to the event in Butler did not receive the relevant information.
The special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Pittsburgh field office, which oversees the district where the rally took place, told the GAO he did not receive any information about a threat, either.
“He reported that if he had received the threat information, he would have requested additional assets, such as ballistic glass, additional drone mitigation, and a full counter sniper advance team, among other assets,” the report states.
The Secret Service had “multiple opportunities to share this information” leading up to the rally “but repeatedly failed to do so,” Gassley’s office contends.
“One year ago, a series of bad decisions and bureaucratic handicaps led to one of the most shocking moments in political history,” the senator said in a statement. “The Secret Service’s failure on July 13th was the culmination of years of mismanagement and came after the Biden administration denied requests for enhanced security to protect President Trump.”
“Americans should be grateful that President Trump survived that day and was ultimately reelected to restore common sense to our country.”
Grassley described the 98-page GAO report as a “comprehensive overview of the failures that occurred prior to and on July 13th.”
“More importantly, this report offers a clear path forward for the Secret Service to improve, so it can prevent another Butler from ever happening again,” he added. “This information would not have been possible without congressional oversight, and my work will continue.”
The GAO was also critical of the roles and responsibilities of agents assigned to the Butler rally, noting five of the 14 agents interviewed stated they relied on their own varying-levels of protective experience for the event and that the Secret Service advance team was not required to review the operational plans of local law enforcement.
The Secret Service’s site agent at Butler, tasked with “identif[ying] site vulnerabilities,” was new to her role, according to the report, which notes the rally was “her first time planning and securing a large outdoor event.”
The Secret Service also lacked drones which could’ve helped identify the shooter because some “had already been allocated for the Republican and Democratic National Conventions,” according to the report, which noted the ones on hand malfunctioned and were flown by inexperienced operators.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran said Saturday that his agency has reviewed the GAO report and is “committed to implementing all recommendations and have already made substantial progress on several of them.”
“Following the events of July 13, the Secret Service took a serious look at our operations and implemented substantive reforms to address the failures that occurred that day,” Curran said in a statement. “The Secret Service appreciates the continued support of President Trump, Congress, and our federal and local partners who have been instrumental in providing crucial resources needed to support the agency’s efforts.”
