The Secret Service held a presser yesterday where they
again accepted full responsibility for the cataclysmic failure to
protect former President Donald Trump during his July 13 rally in
Butler, Pennsylvania. It was a rare event since the agency has opted to
remain in the bunker unless they’re hauled before Congress. Acting
Director Ronald Rowe has been more willing to be the public whipping
boy, but lingering questions remain, and it’s starting to make some
lawmakers impatient. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) outright said that a
“cover-up” clearly happened (via Fox News):
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was among a number of
Republican lawmakers who reacted to acting U.S. Secret Service Director
Ronald Rowe’s press conference Friday about the assassination attempt on
former President Trump at a rally in July. Lee said he believes there’s
more to the story than what Rowe told reporters.
"It is clear
that the American people still have not been given the full story," Lee
told Fox News Digital in a statement. "From the beginning, rally
attendees and people with cellphone footage seem to have been more
invested in stopping the shooter and figuring out what happened than the
Secret Service itself. It is shocking that more officials have not been
held accountable."
[…]
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said there was "clearly a cover-up."
"I
do not believe acting Director Rowe was forthcoming, as the government
rarely admits to being wrong," Johnson told Fox News Digital. "I suspect
that Rowe knows precisely who was responsible for this massive security
failure and that this is clearly a cover-up. We need a detailed
investigation and transcribed interviews to uncover the truth."
Only
three in 10 Americans are extremely or very confident the Secret
Service can keep presidential candidates safe since Trump's
assassination attempt, according to a poll from The Associated
Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
New details also emerged from this presser—all bad for the Secret
Service. One of these was related to the breakdown of communications.
Local SWAT teams had photos and descriptions of Trump’s would-be
assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, but that information never made it to
the key individuals who could have acted. Why? Well, the Secret Service
didn’t have access to the radio system—I wish I was kidding (via ABC News):
There
may have been radio traffic from local police that the Secret Service
didn't have access to that could’ve proved crucial to stopping former
President Donald Trump from going on stage the day of the assassination
attempt, the acting director of the Secret Service said Friday.
"It
was so apparent to me that in this incident, in the final 30 seconds,
which has been the focus of what happened before the assailant opened
fire, there was clearly radio transmissions that may have happened on
that local radio net that we did not have," acting Director Ronald Rowe
said at a news conference. "And so, we have to do a better job of
collocating, leveraging that counterpart system, and this is going to
drive our operations going forward."
Rowe said the shooting was a Secret Service failure alone.
"In no way should any state or local agency supporting us in Butler on July 13 be held responsible," he said.
Also, Mr. Rowe said that Secret Service snipers were unaware that someone was on that rooftop with a gun (via RealClearPolitics):
At 5:45 p.m., a local Butler County Emergency Services
Unit counter-sniper team member texted the Secret Service counter-sniper
team leader about a suspicious person and sent two photos of the
individual, later identified as the assailant. At 5:53 p.m., the Secret
Service counter-sniper team leader texted the Secret Service
counter-sniper teams that local law enforcement was looking for a
suspicious individual outside of the perimeter lurking around the AGR
building. At this time, Secret Service personnel were operating with the
knowledge that local law enforcement was working on an issue of a
suspicious individual.
The concept of local law enforcement
working on such issues is common at sites, and on July 13th, there were
over 100 calls for support. At 6 p.m., former President Trump took the
stage to begin remarks, and based on what I know right now, neither the
Secret Service counter-sniper teams nor members of the former
president's security detail had any knowledge that there was a man on
the roof of the AGR building with a firearm. It is my understanding that
personnel were not aware the assailant had a firearm until they heard
gunshots.
It all circles back to that rooftop which
was left unprotected inside the security permitter. The American Glass
Research roof, which Crooks used to stage his assassination attempt, was
less than 200 yards from the stage with a clear line of sight. Trump
missed a fatal headshot by millimeters, and new video shows Crooks on
the rooftop before he opened fire. Law enforcement saw this kid almost
100 minutes before the attack. Leaked texts from sniper and SWAT teams
show that they were aware of Crooks, who was always a step ahead of the
Secret Service. Trump was saved by pure luck and maybe some divine
intervention. We got lucky, and this agency deserves to give us more of
the picture.
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