Secret Service chief pledges reform, accountability to Trump assassination attempt task force

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service chief told lawmakers on Capitol Hill Thursday that "much-needed reform" and accountability measures are underway in the wake of the agency's "abject failure" on July 13, when a 20-year-old gunman opened fire at a Butler County rally in one of two attempts on President-elect Donald Trump's life during a turbulent campaign season.

"I recognize we did not meet the expectations of the American public, Congress and our protectees," testified Ronald Rowe, the Secret Service's acting director, in the final hearing of the House task force investigating the assassination attempts, which also included a thwarted attempt at Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sept. 15. "The sniper ... the lone-wolf gunman, must be lucky once. The Secret Service must be perfect every time."

Rowe told the bipartisan 13-member panel that since taking over for Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned shortly after the Butler shooting, he has implemented a series of practical reforms. These include bolstering training and advance team security checks, streamlining communications, acquiring and using more equipment such as drones and ballistic counter measures, and improving hiring and retention to relieve an overworked agency grappling with a heightened threat environment.

He also pledged to "be an agent of change" when it comes to the Secret Service's culture — promising to find and cultivate strong leaders earlier in their careers, to "challenge previous assumptions" and to foster a "shared collective responsibility" that empowers agents and state and local partners at every level to raise security concerns or questions.

"Our agency isn't defined by one failure," he said, but by learning from mistakes and answering "a call to duty with unwavering resolve."

While several members of the panel on both sides of the aisle, including chairman Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, thanked Rowe for his service and leadership over the last few months, the director faced some pointed questioning and criticism from a few members who accused the agency of negligence and mismanagement.

The hearing devolved into a shouting match when Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, who implied that Rowe should have responded more quickly as deputy director following the Butler shooting, asked Rowe about security during a 9/11 memorial ceremony this year.

Fallon appeared to suggest potential security mishaps at the 9/11 memorial, and Rowe, who was a first responder at Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks, took extreme offense and accused Fallon of being "out of line" and using the 3,000-plus victims for politics. The two men then yelled and pointed at each other for nearly two full minutes until Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., pleaded with the chairman to shut the pair up as Fallon's clock for questioning ran out.

Rowe told Kelly the most glaring failure on July 13 was the "failure to recognize the significance of the AGR building," from where Bethel Park gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a roof within range of Trump's stage. The Secret Service has said it failed to have an adequate presence in the area — and should have cordoned it off entirely — despite advance team concerns that did not make it up the chain of command or were not acted on.

The preparation and handling of the Trump rally "underscored critical gaps in Secret Service operations," Rowe acknowledged.

"Let me be clear: there will be accountability and that accountability is occurring," he said, noting the due process involved takes time and frustrates him. "But it is essential that we recognize the gravity of our failure."

Kelly, who was at the July rally and whose hometown is Butler, said the events that day and the investigations since "bring out the best of us and the worst of us," describing the experience as "very emotional" for everyone involved. He said that many Americans "come up with conspiracy theories because they don't get answers when they need it," and the task force's work has been to provide those answers and help prevent future failures.

"We are suffering from a lack of trust and faith in our government," he said. "We know you had questions. We got you the answers."

The task force earlier this year said it found security failures on three key fronts: the Secret Service failed to adequately plan for the Butler rally, creating confusion among local law enforcement partners; public access to the site less than 150 yards from the stage was poorly managed; and communications breakdowns — with agencies struggling with heavy radio traffic and unable to fully communicate across various channels — led to "information in a moment of crisis (going) through radio, texts and phone calls, way too slowly," according to Kelly.

Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., said the assassination attempts marked a "need for significant reform" at the tactical level and "agency-wide," noting the Butler shooting represented the closest a president's been to being killed since then-President Ronald Reagan was shot while returning to his limousine outside the Washington Hilton in 1981.

Green urged Rowe to find a way to instill greater urgency and solid leadership across the agency.

"Your guys showed up that day and didn't give a shit," he said. "There was apathy and complacency, period. This is a leadership issue, a command climate issue, a culture issue."

Rowe pledged to review how the agency promotes its agents, with the aim of improving training and identifying potential strong leaders early on as opposed to simply promoting agents with the most years under the belts.

A detailed report on the security failures, and recommendations by the task force, is coming within the next day or two, according to Kelly and the panel's top Democrat, Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado.

Since its inception in July following House approval and appointments made by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the task force reviewed almost 20,000 documents, interviewed hundreds of personnel from federal, state and local agencies, conducted site visits in Pennsylvania and Florida, and reviewed physical evidence from the assassination attempts at FBI Quantico.

But Crow said the FBI did not provide key information, including records and interview transcripts, related to Crooks and his activities leading up to the shooting.

"If their intent was to slow walk us ... they are sorely mistaken," Crow said of the FBI and Justice Department, noting several members would return in the next Congress. "America deserves to know what happened with Mr. Crooks ... who he was talking to ... that is an important part of the story."

Asked by the Post-Gazette what reason the FBI and Justice Department gave for denying the task force's requests for certain records, the congressman said the agencies claim the information cannot be shared pending an active criminal investigation.

"We completely disagree with that," Crow said. "We're the first branch, and we have the authority to conduct oversight over all of government. Constitutionally we have that authority. We have members on the Intelligence Committee ... defense committees ... members who are regularly briefed and oversee our nation's most sensitive secrets. So you cannot tell me that we can't come up with a process to get information about an ongoing investigation and to treat that information properly and securely in a manner that's consistent with their needs."

The FBI did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

In September, the FBI told the Post-Gazette that, "any suggestion the FBI is interfering with congressional efforts to look into the attempted assassination which took place in Butler, Pennsylvania, is inaccurate and unfounded."

"The FBI has been working closely with our law enforcement partners to conduct a thorough investigation into the shooting, and we have followed normal procedures in the handling of the crime scene and evidence," the agency said at the time. "The FBI continues its painstaking work on the investigation to develop as complete a picture as possible of what led to the shooting, and we remain committed to maximum transparency as we continue to brief Congress and publish information for the public regarding the ongoing investigation."

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