House Releases Final Report on Trump Assassination Attempts

On Dec. 10, the U.S. House of Representatives released its final report on the assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump during his presidential campaign. The report follows the July 13 attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pa.—in which bullet fragments grazed Trump’s ear and killed a rally goer—as well as a second attempt on Sept. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fl. 

The bipartisan task force responsible for the report identified failures in security, planning, and leadership by the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) leading to the events in Pennsylvania as well as “missteps” in Florida, and provided recommendations particular to each assassination attempt. The report outlines 11 general recommendations, including prioritizing experience in the assignment process; providing non-USSS personnel on-site with more robust training; reviewing USSS budget, staffing, and retention; focusing USSS resources on U.S. leadership over foreign officials; and more. 

The report concludes:

The fundamental principle that the American political process is free from violence underpins our system of representative democracy. The effectiveness of the Secret Service as the agency responsible for protecting the country’s highest elected officials is therefore central to upholding the Nation’s constitutional values. We hope that the Task Force’s work, which has been fully bipartisan, leaves no doubt about the House of Representatives’ commitment to preserving those values by strengthening the Secret Service and restoring its standing as the world’s preeminent protective agency.

You can read the report here or below: