In its final report, the House task force investigating the assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday accused multiple government agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), of failing to produce documents it requested for its probe.
Trump survived two assassination attempts earlier this year, including one in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet struck his ear. The second attempt occurred in Palm Beach, Florida, in September. Trump was not injured in the second attempt.
The bipartisan panel, which released its final report into the shootings on Tuesday, said there were multiple leadership failures that contributed to the deadly shooting in Pennsylvania in July.
In the second shooting, lawmakers noted that there were “critical vulnerabilities” in the security of the golf course, but said federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) did not provide further information they needed on the preparation and response to the shooting, per Fox News.
“The Task Force notes that as of the date of publication of this report, [the Department of Homeland Security], USSS, FBI, and ATF have not produced any documents responsive to the Task Force’s requests regarding the preparation for, events of, and response to the second assassination attempt that occurred on September 15,” the report said.
The 180-page report also suggested Congress consider detaching the Secret Service from the Department of Homeland Security and make it independent. The agency was previously part of the Treasury Department.
“The current structure potentially weakens USSS, a small but critically important agency, in advocating for its budget and other priorities inside a much larger entity,” the report said. “The failure in [Butler, Pennsylvania] was far from the first significant USSS failure in recent history, and it is fair to question whether USSS should continue to be housed within DHS. (Read more: Just the News, 12/10/2024) (Archive)