Legislators say shortcomings were “foreseeable,” even through “heavily redacted” information.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee issued their report on the first assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump this week, finding that the Secret Service failed to manage “foreseeable” and “preventable” failures on multiple fronts. The report found that the protection agency did not adequately plan necessary security responsibilities leading up to the presidential candidate’s July rally, resulting in the breakdown of communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement.
Committee investigators also noted that several “key requests” for information to the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Secret Service “remain outstanding” and that the majority of documents provided by the Secret Service and Homeland Security Department were “heavily redacted.”
The committee stated in its report, “These overly burdensome redactions, including of communications related to the same individuals who the committee interviewed, only served to delay the committee’s ability to conduct these interviews and carry out its investigation efficiently and effectively.”
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said that the report’s findings were in line with the agency’s internal investigations into the assassination attempt.
“Many of the insights gained from the Senate report align with the findings from our mission assurance review and are essential to ensuring that what happened on July 13 never happens again,” Spokesperson Guglielmi said. He added that the Secret Service is dedicated to working with Congress to address these security lapses.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For members of the Senate and House as they conduct investigations into the assassination attempts against former President Trump.
- For Homeland Security and Secret Service officials to ensure their protections of presidential candidates are appropriate and adequate.
Sources: Reuters, Newsweek, UPI News
