“The Task Force notes that as of the date of publication of this report, DHS, USSS, FBI, and ATF have not produced any documents responsive to the Task Force’s requests regarding the preparation for, events of, and response to the second assassination attem
On Tuesday, the House Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J Trump released its final report detailing the "preexisting conditions and leadership failures" that led to the Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The report noted that federal officials, as of the publication date, had not yet produced documents related to the second attempt on Trump’s life in September.
"The Task Force notes that as of the date of publication of this report, [the Department of Homeland Security], [US Secret Service], FBI, and [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] have not produced any documents responsive to the Task Force’s requests regarding the preparation for, events of, and response to the second assassination attempt that occurred on September 15," the report stated.
The task force said that the Trump International Golf Club, where Trump was playing a round on September 15 when a Secret Service agent spotted a suspect, later identified as Ryan Routh, allegedly sticking a rifle barrel through the fence, had "critical vulnerabilities, particularly relating to its outer perimeter, which the Secret Service had previously identified as a favorable position for potential snipers."
The report called for the Secret Service to review its protocols for sweeping golf courses, and that it should consider "the utility of regularly utilizing UAV for reconnaissance in such sparsely occupied open areas" and "analyze additional reliable, rapidly deployable, and/or mobile technologies that could further be used to supplement manpower for coverage of large open areas." Also recommended was an increased reliance on K9 sweeps, including the Secret Service’s robot K9 asset.
It was also recommended that Congress should weigh whether the Secret Service remains under the purview of DHS. Secret Service was housed in the Department of the Treasury until 2003 when it was moved to the newly formed DHS. "The failure in Butler was far from the first significant USSS failure in recent history, and it is fair to question whether USSS should continue to be housed within DHS. We suggest that the House Committee on Homeland Security should examine the pluses and minuses of USSS’s position housed inside DHS."
"A fresh look at whether USSS might benefit from the status of an independent agency, with more freedom to make budget requests and advocate for itself, would be a healthy discussion for former USSS leaders to have with Congress."
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