US Secret Service admits failures in July Trump assassination attempt

The Star

A US Secret Service probe found communication gaps and a lack of diligence ahead of the July attempted assassination of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, everyone.

00:05After reviewing the planning, event details, and coordination with partner agencies regarding

00:11the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13th, our mission assurance

00:16review is nearing its completion.

00:19As I've said, this was a failure on the part of the United States Secret Service.

00:25It's important that we hold ourselves accountable for the failures of July 13th, and that we

00:30use the lessons learned to make sure that we do not have another failure like this again.

00:35And as a result of these failures, what has become clear to me is we need a shift in paradigm

00:41in how we conduct our protective operations.

00:43The Secret Service did not give clear guidance or direction to our local law enforcement

00:49partners.

00:50There were communication deficiencies between law enforcement personnel at the site, while

00:55some members of the advance team were very diligent.

01:00There was complacency on the part of others that led to a breach of security protocols.

01:05With respect to accountability, the mission assurance review has identified deficiencies

01:10in the advance planning and its implementation by Secret Service personnel.

01:14These employees will be held accountable, and this agency has among the most robust

01:18table of penalties in the entirety of the federal government, and these penalties will

01:22be administered according to our disciplinary process.

01:25What occurred on Sunday demonstrates that the threat environment in which the Secret

01:28Service operates is tremendous and under constant threat, and we've been in this heightened

01:36and increasingly dynamic threat environment since July 13th.

01:41This increased operational tempo requires additional resources to not only account for

01:46costs being incurred today, but ensure that we have the tools, the technology, and personnel

01:52needed to meet these new requirements and execute our mission going forward.

01:57But in order to do this, we need additional personnel, technical assets, and equipment

02:02for the sustainment of immediate and future needs.

02:06Our personnel have been in a state of hyper-vigilance following July 13th.

02:10The way the Secret Service is structured, the President of the United States has the

02:14highest level of protection of any world leader, period, the end.

02:18The number of assets that the Secret Service provides and the Department of Defense provides

02:23is at the highest levels.

02:25Those same highest levels with respect to the Secret Service are being provided to the

02:29former President's detail.

02:31As I stated, I'm sure Congress wants to make sure that the Secret Service is strong.

02:36I don't know the intentions behind this piece of legislation, but what I'll just point back

02:42to, coming out of Butler, coming out of July 13th, we've been providing the highest levels

02:46of Secret Service protection to the former President.

02:50All right, thank you everyone.

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