Internal Secret Service investigation reveals widespread failures before Trump’s first assassination attempt

An internal Secret Service investigation attributed poor planning, communication problems and widespread sloppiness among officials as the main reasons for the failed security operation during the first assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a campaign rally last July.

The agency's acting director, Ronald Rowe, told reporters Friday that some employees involved in the agency's historic failure will be punished through an internal review process.

"There was complacency on the part of" some agents "that led to a breach of security protocols," Rowe said. "These penalties will be administered according to our disciplinary process."

The agency director did not disclose further details about how the agents responsible for the security lapse would be punished.

According to the five-page report released Friday, local police and Secret Service agents were partially uncoordinated, exposing faulty planning during the security operation and communication problems before Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire.

On that day, Trump was shot in the ear, miraculously saving himself. In addition, one member of the public was killed ,and two more people were wounded. An agent shot Crooks after he fired several shots.

In the report, the Secret Service notes that the site at Butler was identified as a security challenge for the agency; however, measures designed to correct problems and prevent failures were not "carried out as intended."

Particularly, the report reveals that agents were concerned that the installation of warehouses at the Butler fairgrounds could give the gunman a clear line of sight to the former president; however, no mechanism was implemented to alleviate this concern.

One of the most striking details in the report is that Trump's security team was not aware that state and local law enforcement were pursuing "a suspect" (Crooks) with a rifle.

According to the report. had the former president's team been warned, the agents probably would have had time to move Trump to another location during the search.

Also, the findings reveal that local law enforcement agencies did not know there were two separate command centers at the site and were "operating under a misimpression that the Secret Service was directly receiving their radio transmissions."

The internal investigation's findings are released at a time of maximum pressure for the Secret Service, which washed its image somewhat last week after an agent successfully prevented a gunman, who was allegedly attempting to shoot Trump, from successfully carrying out his plan.

Authorities hypothesize that the man was probably waiting for the right moment to shoot Trump at his golf course in Palm Beach, Florida. The suspect has already been arrested and charged with weapons-related charges.

The new report builds on congressional testimony and press reports that had already exposed Secret Service failures to protect Trump in July.

Director Rowe stressed the fact that the agency is working with a short budget that it has to make the most of in a convulsive election campaign.

"We have finite resources, and we are stretching those resources to their maximum right now," he said.