Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told reporters on Friday that his agency was fully responsible for the assassination attem...
Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told reporters on Friday that his agency was fully responsible for the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last month and that the agency “should have had eyes” on the roof where 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot the former president.
“The Secret Service takes full responsibility for the tragic events of July 13th,” Rowe told reporters. “This was a mission failure. The sole responsibility of our agency is to make sure our protectees are never put in danger.”
Rowe said that agency was fully cooperating with all relevant investigations into the events of that day and that the Secret Service’s Office of Professional Responsibility is currently conducting a mission assurance review that will pursue accountability for the agency’s failures.
“If policy violations by Secret Service personnel are identified by the agency’s mission assurance review, those individuals will be held accountable and they will be held accountable to our fair and thorough disciplinary process,” he said. “The first part of that process is an investigation to identify where the policy violations occurred. Potential policy violations are referred to our office of integrity and appropriate discipline is administered under our table of penalties.”
He said that the Secret Service is facing a fast moving “unprecedented threat environment” during the current campaign and that he has the backs of those who work for him.
“In no way should any state or local agency supporting us in Butler on July 13th be held responsible for our Secret Service failure,” Rowe said.
Rowe said that the roof where Crooks set up approximately 150 yards away from Trump “should have been covered” and that the agency “should have had eyes on that.”
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