On Thursday, Congress got a briefing on the report, which is called the “Mission Assurance probe,” behind closed doors. A number of members spoke out about the Secret Service’s security flaws that day.
“I think the American public will be shocked and horrified by what we will tell them about how the Secret Service failed in this attempt to protect the former president,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, told Fox News.
“But I think they should also be shocked and appalled that the Department of Homeland Security hasn’t been more open, honest, and forthright with them about the information it should have given them.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (Wisc) told reporters, “There is a lot we do not know yet, and I think there was some anger that was shared, I think with Acting Director Rowe. He’s promising to give more details.”
DHS and the Secret Service are still taking too long to give Congress the information they’ve asked for two months after the murder.
There may be a version of the story that has been edited out next week.
The shooter had a clear shot less than 130 yards from the event stage, but no one has fully explained how they were able to get to the top of the AGR building.
The Washington Post:
“An internal investigation revealed that agents from the Secret Service headquarters and the Pittsburgh field office had a shockingly bad plan to keep a possible shooter from getting a clear view of the Republican presidential nominee at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation.”
“Officials said that event security staff had talked about using heavy equipment and flags to block the view between the Agr International building and the protest stage. They went to Butler on the day of the gathering and saw that the cranes, trucks, and flags were not set up in a way that blocked the view from that roof.”
They get to Butler on the day of the outdoor gathering and find that their big plan to block the view of a possible shooter from the top of the AGR building has failed.
What kept those managers from moving quickly to put the “cranes, trucks, and flags” in the right place?
Ron Rowe, acting head of the Secret Service, told Congress, “The Secret Service cannot work under the paradox of a ‘zero fail mission’ while also making our special agents carry out a very important national security mission by doing more with less.”
