Secret Service faces scrutiny after Trump assassination attempt. What’s the agency’s future?

In the aftermath of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, the Secret Service has come under scrutiny over its failure to protect the former president.

The shooter, identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks, was on a rooftop around 150 meters away when he took aim at Trump, injuring the former president and two others and killing former fire chief Corey Comperatore, who was trying to protect his family.

Law enforcement officials and eyewitnesses have said the shooter was spotted before he opened fire, raising further concerns about how the incident was handled.

Did law enforcement see Trump shooter early?

Olivia Rinaldi, a CBS News reporter, said a local law enforcement official with direct knowledge told CBS there were three snipers inside the building where the shooter was positioned.

“One of the snipers inside saw Crooks outside looking up at the roof observing the building and then disappeared, according to local law enforcement,” said Rinaldi. “Then Crooks came back, sat down and was looking on his phone and at that point one of the snipers took a picture of him.”

CBS News reported law enforcement sources said people in the area saw the shooter with a rifle on the roof and had told authorities about his presence before the shooting.

“The sheriff of Butler County said a local police officer was hoisted by another officer to look onto the roof,” CBS News reported. “The shooter pointed his rifle toward the officer, who let go and fell off.”

Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker told the New York Post, “It was a total security breakdown from start to finish. From the total security plan for the rally to the reaction once the shots rang out.”

Lawmakers question security lapses

Politicians on both sides of the aisle have questioned the apparent security lapses in the lead-up to the shooting.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee said on social media, “Any third grader would know that it’d be malpractice not to have personnel on the rooftop where the shooter was positioned.” Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., wrote a letter calling “on all those responsible for the planning, approving, and executing of this failed security plan to be held accountable and to testify before Congress immediately.”

Kimberly Cheatle, director of the Secret Service, said in an interview with ABC News that the shooting at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally was “unacceptable.”

“It was unacceptable,” said Cheatle. “And it’s something that shouldn’t happen again.”

Since more reporting has emerged about the details of what happened Saturday, there have been calls for Cheatle to resign from her position. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on social media, “The central feature of our nation’s entrenched bureaucratic class is never being held accountable for failures. The greatest security failure for the agency this century and nobody will be fired or resign?”

Cheatle said she would not resign from her position and the agency would conduct a review. She also responded to reports of the shooter being seen before the shots were fired. “I don’t have all the details yet, but it was a very short period of time,” Cheatle told ABC News. “Seeking that person out, finding them, identifying them, and eventually neutralizing them took place in a very short period of time, and it makes it very difficult.”

FBI leading investigation into Trump shooting

The FBI has taken the lead on investigating the assassination attempt.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC News that the shooter should not have had a direct line of sight to Trump. He said the independent investigation announced by President Joe Biden was underway.

“We have to learn everything about the assailant who, of course, the Secret Service neutralized,” Mayorkas said. “We are going to really study the event independently and make recommendations to the Secret Service and to me so that we can assure the safety and security of our protectees which is one of our most vital missions in the Secret Service.”

In a different interview, Mayorkas told CNN, “We are speaking of a failure.”

Congress plans to investigate

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has committed to fully investigating the rally shooting.

“The American people deserve to know the truth,” said Johnson on X. “We will have Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other appropriate officials from DHS and the FBI appear for a hearing before our committees ASAP.”

House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has summoned Cheatle to appear in front of the committee on July 22 when the House is back in session. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., has requested a number of documents including the security plan and internal communications about Trump security requests from Mayorkas.

Green has also requested that Mayorkas, Wray and Cheatle appear before the committee.

Future of the agency

Conversations have already started about what the future of the Secret Service should be.

The agency is housed under the Department of Homeland Security. It often works with local law enforcement agencies in order to do its work. It does both protection details for presidents, vice presidents, former presidents and others, and also investigates financial crimes.

When the agency was formed in 1865, it was under the U.S. Treasury Department and its primary responsibility was to deal with U.S. currency counterfeits. It was later given the responsibility of protecting certain individuals after the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley.

Now there is talk about whether or not the agency’s duties should be whittled down to simply protection of dignitaries.

“Perhaps it’s time for the Secret Service to be dedicated entirely to dignitary protection,” said Lee on social media. “We could hand the investigation of financial crimes over to another agency, leaving the Secret Service to focus entirely on protecting lives. Preparing reports on financial crimes involves a very different skill set than dignitary protection.”

Juliette Kayyem also posed this as a solution in an article for The Atlantic.

“Perhaps the Secret Service should indeed spin off its financial-investigation duties to another law-enforcement agency and focus solely on defending presidents, former presidents, and other important protectees from attackers who would try to alter the course of our politics by force.”