In a recent report, an independent panel of former law enforcement officials has called for a comprehensive revamp of the Secret Service leadership.
This follows a review of the agency's security lapses that nearly resulted in the assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this year.
According to CNN, the panel's report, released on Wednesday, is one of the most severe critiques of the Secret Service to date. It criticizes the agency's culture of "do more with less" and a pervasive lack of "critical thinking" among agents, particularly evident during the events leading up to and during the Butler rally where Trump was shot. "The Secret Service has become bureaucratic, complacent, and static even though risks have multiplied and technology has evolved," the panel stated in its report.
The panel, chaired by Mark Filip, deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush, and Janet Napolitano, the secretary of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama, among others, suggested that the agency's leadership should be replaced with external individuals capable of transforming the Secret Service's culture. They highlighted the need to address the "present sense of complacency within the Service."
"Many of the issues that the Panel has identified throughout this report, particularly regarding the Panels deeper concerns, are ultimately attributable, directly or indirectly, to the Services culture. A refreshment of leadership, with new perspectives, will contribute to the Services resolution of those issues," the panel wrote.
The Secret Service is presently under the interim leadership of Ronald Rowe, an internal appointee who took over after Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned following the near-assassination incident. Although Rowe is not explicitly mentioned in the report's recommendation for leadership change, his internal appointment seems to contradict the panel's call for external leadership.
The report heavily criticized the agency for its failure to secure the Butler rally site adequately. This included not setting up line-of-sight blockades, not securing the group of buildings accessed by the shooter, and not responding to reports of the shooter as a suspicious person over an hour before Trump was shot. These oversights, the panel noted, were indicative of a lack of critical thinking among Secret Service personnel responsible for security that day.
The panel also recommended that the agency relinquish some of its non-security related responsibilities, such as its investigative work on financial crimes. "The Panel expresses extreme skepticism that many of the Services non-protective (investigative) missions meaningfully contribute to the Services protective capability and is concerned that they may materially distract from it," the report says.
The report also highlighted the Secret Service's failure to significantly enhance Trump's security after receiving information about an assassination threat from "a foreign state actor." This was despite Trump's high-profile status as a former president and the current Republican front-runner for the 2024 election.
The report also pointed out the lack of experience among those who led the site security for the rally that day. "The site agent assigned by the Trump detail to coordinate with the Pittsburgh field office to conduct site advance work and site security planning for the Butler rally only graduated from the Services academy in 2020," the panel noted.
The panel also highlighted communication failures during the Butler rally between the Secret Service and local law enforcement officers who reported the shooters movements and suspicious activities. While the Secret Service claims to be working on a more integrated communications system, the panel noted that the federal government has been aware of and created remedies for these issues, recognized decades ago in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks.
Despite the panel's praise for agents who acted to protect Trump after he was shot and quickly neutralized the shooter, the report emphasized that "bravery and selflessness alone, no matter how honorable, are insufficient to discharge the Secret Services no-fail protective mission." This underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive review and overhaul of the agency's practices and leadership to ensure the safety of those under its protection.
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