Secret Service Acting Director Says Trump Assassination Attempt Investigation "Made Me Ashamed"

TIME

Officials shared new details regarding the timeline of the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump and additional background on the shooter during a Senate hearing Tuesday.

Transcript

00:00The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God.

00:05A critical part of the Secret Service mission is protecting our nation's current

00:09and former government leaders.

00:12The attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump

00:15on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, was a failure on multiple levels.

00:24Since my appointment as the acting director one week ago,

00:27I identified gaps in our security on July 13 and have implemented corrective actions.

00:33One of my first actions as acting director was traveling to the Butler Farm Show site

00:38to better understand how our protection failed.

00:41I went to the roof of the AGR building where the assailant fired shots,

00:46and I laid in a prone position to evaluate his line of sight.

00:52What I saw made me ashamed.

00:55As a career law enforcement officer and a 25-year veteran with the Secret Service,

01:00I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured.

01:04To prevent similar lapses from occurring in the future,

01:07I directed our personnel to ensure every event site security plan

01:13is thoroughly vetted by multiple experienced supervisors before it is implemented.

01:19It is clear to me that other protective enhancements

01:21could have strengthened our security at the Butler event.

01:24I've heard your calls for accountability, and I take them very seriously.

01:29And given the magnitude of this failure,

01:31the Secret Service's Office of Professional Responsibility

01:34is reviewing the actions and decision-making of Secret Service personnel

01:39in the lead-up to and on the day of the attack.

01:43If this investigation reveals that Secret Service employees violated agency protocols,

01:48those employees will be held accountable to our disciplinary process.

01:52But I do not believe that inadequate time to plan for this event was a factor in the failure.

01:59As you saw in my written statement,

02:01I am prepared to provide an overview of the security planning leading up to

02:04and during the July 13th attack.

02:06However, I would like to point out that based on what I know right now,

02:10neither the Secret Service counter-sniper teams

02:13nor members of the former president's security detail

02:16had any knowledge that there was a man on the roof of the AGR building with a firearm.

02:23It is my understanding those personnel were not aware the assailant had a firearm

02:27until they heard gunshots.

02:29Prior to that, they were operating with the knowledge that local law enforcement

02:33was working an issue of a suspicious individual prior to the shots being fired.

02:38I regret that information was not passed to Congress and the public sooner with greater frequency.

02:44And I fear this lack of information has given rise to multiple

02:48false and dangerous conspiracy theories about what took place that day.

02:52And I want to debunk these theories.

02:55Let me address one conspiracy directly.

02:58The Secret Service counter-sniper neutralized the assailant

03:02within seconds after the assailant fired his weapon.

03:06That counter-sniper had full discretion to use deadly force

03:10to stop an attacker and did not need to seek authorization to fire.

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