Secret Service officials were aware of ‘classified threat’ 10 days before assassination attempt

Secret Service officials were aware of ‘classified threat’ 10 days before Butler assassination attempt, failed to tell agents guarding Trump

Senior-level Secret Service officials failed to share “classified threat information” related to President Trump with those assigned to protect him during the Pennsylvania campaign rally where he was nearly assassinated, according to a congressional watchdog report.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found the classified intelligence had been presented to Secret Service officials a full 10 days before the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, but the agency’s “siloed practice for sharing” sensitive information resulted in few being aware of the threat against Trump’s life.

“[T]he Secret Service had no process to share classified threat information with partners when the information was not considered an imminent threat to life,” read the GAO report, released Saturday by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

The special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Pittsburgh field office, which oversees the district where the rally took place, told the GAO he did not receive any information about a threat, either.

“He reported that if he had received the threat information, he would have requested additional assets, such as ballistic glass, additional drone mitigation, and a full counter sniper advance team, among other assets,” the report states.

The Secret Service had “multiple opportunities to share this information” leading up to the rally “but repeatedly failed to do so,” Grassley's office contends.

“One year ago, a series of bad decisions and bureaucratic handicaps led to one of the most shocking moments in political history,” the senator said in a statement. “The Secret Service’s failure on July 13th was the culmination of years of mismanagement and came after the Biden administration denied requests for enhanced security to protect President Trump.”

“Americans should be grateful that President Trump survived that day and was ultimately reelected to restore common sense to our country.”