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More bungling in Butler…

A preliminary report on the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs highlights a laundry list of missteps and miscommunications on behalf of the Secret Service and law enforcement agencies protecting Donald Trump.

In one particular instance, it was noted that an agent in charge of drone surveillance only had one hour of informal training and had to call a toll-free hotline for tech support assistance.

From The New York Post:

Among the key failures, an agent inexperienced with drone equipment called a toll-free tech support hotline for help after a request ahead of time for additional unmanned assets was denied, according to a preliminary summary of findings made public Wednesday. According to the committee, he had just an hour of informal training with the device.

“Multiple foreseeable and preventable planning and operational failures by USSS contributed to [Thomas] Crooks’ ability to carry out the assassination attempt of former President Trump on July 13,” the preliminary report read. “These included unclear roles and responsibilities, insufficient coordination with state and local law enforcement, the lack of effective communications, and inoperable C-UAS systems, among many others.”

“We have reviewed the interim report on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The weight of our mission is not lost on us and in this hyperdynamic threat environment, the U.S. Secret Service cannot fail. Many of the insights gained from the Senate report align with the findings from our mission assurance review and are essential to ensuring that what happened on July 13 never happens again,” U.S. Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi responded Wednesday.

According to testimony from agents from Trump’s detail and the Pittsburgh field office, neither of them were aware at the time when, 27 minutes before the shooting, the Secret Service’s security room and counter-sniper team was informed that a suspicious person had been spotted near the AGR building with a range finder; the shooter eventually took position on the roof of that building.

“Shortly before shots were fired, a USSS counter sniper saw local law enforcement running toward the AGR building with their guns drawn, but he did not alert former President Trump’s protective detail to remove him from the stage,” the committee revealed in the 94-page report. “The USSS counter sniper told the Committee that while seeing officers with their guns drawn ‘elevated’ the threat level, the thought to notify someone to get Trump off the stage ‘did not cross [his] mind.’”

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) reacted to the preliminary report on X, saying “A new Senate report on the attempt to assassinate President Trump in Butler revealed a Secret Service employee was on a toll-free support line during the rally to figure out how to operate a drone. The Secret Service is acting like the Keystone Cops.”

More over at The New York Post: