‘Preventable and should not have happened’: House releases report on Trump assassination attempt

WASHINGTON — A House of Representatives bipartisan committee on Monday released its report on the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, saying that the July shooting at a Pennsylvania rally was “preventable and should not have happened.”

The report was the latest of several investigations that left one rallygoer dead and three people, including Trump, wounded, The Associated Press reported.

Read the report below or click here.

The Department of Homeland Security, a Senate panel and a Secret Service internal review all investigated the shooting, USA Today reported.

In the House report, the lawmakers said there were “stunning security failures” at the Butler Farm Show grounds leading up to the July 13 shooting.

Both the House and the Senate have asked why the Secret Service did not do a better job with communication and why the building where gunman Thomas Crooks set up his shot, which had a clear line of sight to the stage where Trump was speaking, was not secured.

The House focused on “the fragmented lines of communication and unclear chains of command” between the Secret Service and state and local law enforcement. The committee, however, said the Secret Service was ultimately responsible.

“Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers could have engaged Thomas Matthew Crooks at several pivotal moments,” the report said, according to the AP. “As Crooks’s behavior became increasingly suspicious, fragmented lines of communication allowed Crooks to evade law enforcement.”

The committee reviewed thousands of pages of documents, almost two dozen interview transcriptions and briefings from Secret Service and FBI senior officials.

The Secret Service’s failures have had a Homeland Security panel push for the agency’s leadership to be overhauled. The former director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned about 10 days after the attempt on Trump’s life, but not until after she did not answer questions when called in front of the House Oversight Committee. Some of the questions she did not answer included “Why did Secret Service fail to secure a rooftop in proximity to the rally site and with a clear view of President Trump’s podium?” and “Was there any intelligence gathered by Secret Service on the gunman?” the committee said when calling for her resignation.

Cheatle said in her resignation that the Secret Service “fell short” of its mission “to protect our nation’s leaders,” CNN reported.

Ronald Rowe was named the acting director.

The Secret Service has more than 7,800 Special Agents, Uniformed Division Officers, Technical Law Enforcement Officers and other employees, according to the agency.

Rowe said the agency already increased security for major-party presidential nominees, adding that it added bullet-proof glass at outdoor events to protect candidates and expanding the protective areas. Officials are also reviewing recommendations made by an independent panel to change how the Secret Service operates, USA Today reported.

The House task force will release its full findings by mid-December, “including any recommendations for legislative reforms necessary to prevent future security lapses,” CNN reported.

About 20 more interviews are expected and will also look at the Sept. 15 incident where an alleged gunman was arrested after he was waiting outside of a fence where Trump was playing golf in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA Today reported.

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