Secret Service employees put on administrative duties following Trump assassination attempt
Aug 23, 2024, 10:41 AM
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is helped off the stage by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
(CNN) — Multiple Secret Service personnel from the Pittsburgh Field Office and one member of Donald Trump’s security detail involved in the advance planning for Trump’s July 13 rally have been reassigned to administrative duties and ordered to work from home, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.
The move comes as the Secret Service continues to face criticism for the security failures that allowed a gunman to fire eight rounds at the former president, piercing Trump’s ear and leaving one rallygoer dead in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The Secret Service has been under immense pressure from lawmakers to discipline or fire those involved in the preparation for the rally. Acting Deputy Director Ronald Rowe had told lawmakers he intended to wait until after the investigation was complete before issuing any disciplinary action.
The agency is undergoing multiple inquiries including an internal review, congressional investigations and an independent commission empaneled by the Department of Homeland Security.
“This was a Secret Service failure,” Rowe told reporters during a news conference earlier this month – a clear shift in tone from when the agency previously pointed blame on locals for their failure to keep eyes on would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks that day. “That roof should have been covered.”
“The U.S. Secret Service is committed to investigating the decisions and actions of personnel related to the event in Butler, Pennsylvania and the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The U.S. Secret Service’s mission assurance review is progressing, and we are examining the processes, procedures and factors that led to this operational failure,” Anthony Guglielmi, Chief of Communications for the U.S. Secret Service, said in a statement Friday.
“The U.S. Secret Service holds our personnel to the highest professional standards, and any identified and substantiated violations of policy will be investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility for potential disciplinary action. Given this is a personnel matter, we are not in a position to comment further,” he added.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.
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