[Senate Prints 118-29]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
118th Congress } { S. PRT.
SENATE
2nd Session } { 118-29
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EXAMINATION OF U.S. SECRET SERVICE
PLANNING AND SECURITY FAILURES
RELATED TO THE JULY 13, 2024 ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
__________
INTERIM JOINT REPORT
prepared by the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
and the
PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
SEPTEMBER 25, 2024
__________
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
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__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
58-130 WASHINGTON : 2025
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COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia RICK SCOTT, Florida
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
LAPHONZA R. BUTLER, California ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas
David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
Alan S. Kahn, Chief Counsel/Chief Investigative Counsel
Claudine J. Brenner, Deputy Chief Counsel
Megan Petry Edgette, Senior Investigative Counsel
Kevin G. McAloon, Senior Investigator
Naomi S. Rosen, Special Assistant
Victoria J. Kasonde, Investigations Assistant and Editor
William E. Henderson III, Minority Staff Director
Christina N. Salazar, Minority Chief Counsel
James P. Stephens, Minority Investigator
Megan M. Krynen, Minority Professional Staff Member
Kendal B. Tigner, Minority Professional Staff Member
J. Ryan Arient, Minority Professional Staff Member
Madeleine R. Fleenor, Minority Research Assistant
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Ashley A. Gonzalez, Hearing Clerk
PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin+
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire RICK SCOTT, Florida
JON OSSOFF, Georgia, JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
LAPHONZA BUTLER, California ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas
Jennifer N. Gaspar, Staff Director
Caitlin A. Warner, Chief Council
John M. Geise, Senior Counsel
John Micah D. Heinemann, Senior Counsel
Lorenzo P. D'Aubert, Counsel
Brian Downey, Minority Staff Director
Patrick D. Hartobey, Minority Chief Counsel
Scott D. Wittmann, Minority Deputy Staff Director
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Page
II. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.....................................6
III. USSS PLANNING AND SECURITY FAILURES FOR JULY 13, 2024, RALLY.....9
A. Overview of USSS Planning and Security Assignments for
the July 13 Rally........................................ 11
B. Planning Failures....................................... 12
USSS Advance Personnel Roles and Responsibilities Were
Unclear and Lacked Accountability........................ 13
USSS Failed to Sufficiently Coordinate With State and
Local Law Enforcement.................................... 14
USSS Did Not Adequately Cover the AGR Building........... 17
USSS Counter Sniper Team Leader Identified the AGR Roof
as a Vulnerability, but Did Not Ensure Local Snipers
Could Mitigate It........................................ 19
Multiple Law Enforcement Line-of-Sight Concerns Were Not
Sufficiently Mitigated in Advance of July 13............. 30
Resource Requests for Additional Assets Were Denied and
Others Were Not Made..................................... 31
Errors in security planning documents.................... 33
C. Communications Failures................................. 34
Key USSS personnel were never informed that local law
enforcement was searching for a suspicious person with a
rangefinder prior to shots being fired................... 36
USSS officials expected the USSS Security Room would
relay relevant information from all law enforcement
agencies................................................. 37
Siloed communications hindered information sharing at the
July 13 rally............................................ 38
Responsibilities for the USSS Security Room were not well
defined or clearly understood............................ 44
D. ``I got him''--USSS Counter Snipers and Local Snipers
Describe Line-of-Sight and Communication Limitations..... 45
The USSS Counter Sniper Team Leader saw local law
enforcement running toward the AGR building with their
guns drawn, but did not radio the Trump detail to remove
Trump from the stage..................................... 48
Crooks was in the USSS counter sniper's sights for ``mere
seconds'' before he fired at Crooks...................... 52
E. Intelligence Concerns................................... 53
A USSS official was made aware that ``credible
intelligence'' existed of a threat, but still wrote in a
security planning document that there was ``no adverse
intelligence'' concerning the visit to Butler, PA........ 54
Other USSS officials involved in the planning of the
rally told the Committee they had no knowledge of any
threats and the FBI did not respond to USSS' intelligence
request.................................................. 56
F. Counter Unmanned Aircraft System Failures............... 59
Requests for additional counter drone equipment and drone
flight restrictions were denied.......................... 59
The USSS official responsible for overseeing C-UAS at the
July 13 rally lacked experience and knowledge about the
equipment................................................ 61
IV. TIMELINE OF KEY EVENTS AT THE JULY 13, 2024, RALLY..............64
Known Actions of the Assailant Prior to the July 13 Rally 64
Identification and Search for the Suspicious Individual
on July 13, 2024......................................... 65
Local Law Enforcement Fired at Crooks.................... 74
V. FEDERAL AGENCIES' LACK OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE COMMITTEE'S
BIPARTISAN INQUIRY..............................................76
DHS and USSS incomplete response to the Committee's
requests................................................. 76
FBI's responsiveness to the Committee's requests......... 77
ATF's responsiveness to the Committee's requests......... 77
Outstanding Requests Regarding the July 13, 2024 Rally
and Assassination Attempt................................ 78
APPENDIX
Appendix......................................................... 79
Letters.......................................................... 83
Transcripts of Interviews
USSS Counter Sniper Team Lead................................ 121
USSS Special Agent in Charge, Pittsburgh Field Office........ 345
USSS Counter Unmanned Aerial System Advance Lead............. 556
USSS Counter Hercules 2 Counter Sniper....................... 718
USSS Assistant Director for the Office of Protective
Operations................................................. 885
USSS Site Counterpart........................................ 1027
USSS Lead Advance Agent...................................... 1214
USSS Intelligence Advance Agent.............................. 1396
USSS Site Agent.............................................. 1569
USSS CAT Advance Agent....................................... 1763
USSS CAT Operator............................................ 1905
USSS TSD Advance Agent....................................... 2063
A P P E N D I X
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