According to senior U.S. officials who are overseeing the investigation into the agency’s shortcomings on the day that a potential assassin opened fire on former President Donald Trump at a political rally in Pennsylvania, the U.S. Secret Service experienced numerous major and seemingly inexplicable security breaches.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, stated to the Washington Post that the Secret Service had a “alarmingly slipshod strategy” to prevent Trump from being shot at that day.
Secret Service officials intended to obstruct the former president’s unobstructed line of sight as he spoke on stage in Butler on July 13 by employing flags.
Nevertheless, the resources that were deployed were not utilized to position the banners in a manner that would obstruct Trump’s line of sight.
The Secret Service’s operations for political candidates and the incumbent President of the United States were discovered to be significantly different by the investigators.
According to the report, the Secret Service command post was unable to receive real-time alerts from local police who were monitoring the gathering and outer perimeter.
The Secret Service official was the sole recipient of the police’s warning regarding the shooter prior to the event, and agents were not informed of the police’s efforts to locate the suspect via radio traffic prior to firing.
The agency was also reportedly “slow” to enhance security for Trump, despite intelligence reports that Iran had initiated an operation to assassinate the former president, according to the imminent congressional report.
Former Director Kimberly Cheatle, Assistant Director of Protective Operations Mike Plati, and senior executive John Buckley are among the numerous senior Secret Service officials who have resigned, retired, or are on the brink of leaving prior to the report’s release.
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