USSS reports lack of communication, drone issues plagued response at Trump's Butler, PA rally

Issues with a host of communications and technical difficulties with drone capabilities plagued the U.S. Secret Service at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where an assassin took a shot at former President Donald Trump, according to a new report released Friday by the agency.

The Secret Service said it failed to secure the line of sight to the former president, by not securing the roof of the AGR building near the Butler Fair Grounds and law enforcement did not communicate to all personnel involved that there was a threat to the former president, the report said.

The report also revealed there was no discussion with the Secret Service advance staff about positioning a local sniper team on top of the AGR roof and the "lack of due diligence" in the construction of the secure perimeter should have been focused on more acutely.

The report was an effort from the Secret Service to be transparent about the failures that occurred on July 13, when Thomas Matthew Crooks allegedly climbed on top of a neighboring building and opened fire on Trump, striking him in the ear before being killed by a Secret Service sniper.

"A consistent theme gathered from state and local law enforcement personnel who helped secure the Butler rally was the presence of communications deficiencies," according to an executive summary of the report released on Friday.

The "deficiencies" included a lack of resources to share information, a "variety" of communications channels used by different law enforcement agencies, and the agency's inability to convey the Secret Service's "protective needs."

"Some local police entities supporting the Butler venue had no knowledge that there were two separate communications centers on site (i.e., the Secret Service security room and the Butler County Emergency Services Mobile Command Post)," the executive summary said. "As a result, those entities were operating under a misimpression that the Secret Service was directly receiving their radio transmissions."

Federal personnel on the scene were not informed through the radio of a description of the assailant, or vital information received from local law enforcement regarding a suspicious individual on the roof of the AGR complex, the report said.

The information was being passed through mobile devices in a "fragmented fashion" instead of being relayed through the Secret Service's radio network, the report said.

"This failure was especially acute in terms of the [ Former President's ] protective detail, who were not apprised of how focused state and local law enforcement were in the minutes leading up to the attack on locating the suspicious subject," the executive summary said. "If this information was passed over Secret Service radio frequencies it would have allowed [ Former President's ] protective detail to determine whether to move their protectee while the search for the suspicious suspect was in progress."

The Secret Service was not made aware that a local agency that was providing support to the Secret Service, according to the report.

"Neither the Secret Service's Pittsburgh Field Office leadership nor anyone on the agency's advance team were aware of this outreach for support," the report said. "This led to a situation where the local tactical team operating on the second floor of the AGR building-a team that was providing mutual aid support-had no prior contact with Secret Service personnel before the rally."

There was "no discussion" with the Secret Service about positioning that local team on the roof of the AGR building, according to the report's executive summary.

Another challenge impacting the Secret Service on July 13 was its drone system was experiencing "technical difficulties," the agency said.

The FBI director testified to Congress that Crooks flew a drone outside of the secure perimeter before the rally started.

"It is possible that if this element of the advance had functioned properly, the shooter may have been detected as he flew his drone near the Butler Farm Show venue earlier in the day," the executive summary said.

The report also found that the Butler Farm Show site "as seen by the Secret Service and our local law enforcement partners as a challenge."

It was selected by the campaign and local officials "because it was the better venue to accommodate the large number of desired attendees."

"Advance personnel and multiple supervisors with oversight of the security plan at the Butler Farm Show venue recognized line of site concerns," the report found. "However, the security measures to alleviate these concerns were not carried out on July 13, 2024 as intended. There was a lack of detailed knowledge by Secret Service personnel regarding the state or local law enforcement presence that would be present in and around the AGR complex."

It comes as The House unanimously on Friday approved a bill that would require the Secret Service to apply equal standards of protection to major presidential candidates and sitting presidents, a move that comes in the wake of two assassination attempts on former President Trump.

The final tally was 405-0 in favor of the bill. Only two-thirds majority was required for the measure to pass.

The bill was first introduced following the first assassination attempt in July by Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y.

It now heads to the Senate where its fate is uncertain. The Senate would likely not be able to take it up until after the 2024 election.

On Wednesday, the Secret Service told the House task force investigating the assassination attempts against Trump that the former president has an increased level of security.

"President Biden ordered the Secret Service to provide the same level of security to both Vice President Harris and to former President Trump, that would be a presidential level security commensurate with what the president would receive, and that that security is being provided, that's our understanding," Ranking Member Jason Crow, D-CO, said following a USSS virtual briefing.

In addition to counter assault, counter surveillance, counter sniper, protective intelligence and drone teams for Trump, an agency official says the security plan at Mar-a-Lago now includes emergency tactical response functions and a protective platoon from Palm Beach County.

The protective package around a candidate - even one who's now repeatedly come under physical threat - could never be the same as that of a sitting president or vice president, the official said.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise touted the bill during the GOP weekly leadership press conference earlier this week.

"Every year since 2017, Congress has added more money to the Secret Service's budget than they even requested in their budget," Scalise said Wednesday. "And so, it is not an issue of money. What they are doing with the money we've had a lot of serious questions about before the first assassination attempt."

Acting Director of the Secret Service said Monday that Congress' commitment to providing the resources the agency needs has been "fantastic."

He also praised DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas " whose support in making sure that we're getting what we need has been phenomenal."

Rowe said that right now they need to hire more people because they are currently "redlining" agents.