WASHINGTON, USA – Communications gaps and a lack of diligence by US Secret Service personnel preceded the July 13 attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to a summary of the agency’s mission assurance investigation released Friday.
The findings of the investigation have prompted the Secret Service to move into the accountability phase of this process. The Office of Professional Responsibility and the Office of Integrity are reviewing the findings.
“It is important that we hold ourselves to account for the failures of July 13 and that we take the lessons learned to make sure that we do not have another mission failure like this again,” acting director Ronald L. Rowe said. “What has become clear to me is that we need a shift in paradigm in how we conduct our operations.”
The report is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.
The mission assurance investigation indicates multiple operational and communications failures. This includes the absence of some of the basic tenets of the US Secret Service’s protective methodologies, including operational gaps due to a deficiency of established command and control, lapses in communication, and a lack of diligence by agency personnel.
Following the events of July 13, the Secret Service has elevated its protective model in order to meet the expanding requirements of today’s hyperdynamic threat environment.
The vision for the agency’s paradigm shift is that the agency will be more agile, with the ability to escalate protection to the highest levels for Secret Service protectees for undetermined periods of time.
In order to meet these new requirements, the agency must increase its protective footprint, including personnel, technical assets, and equipment.
