Washington — Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told his staff Thursday that he is “deeply concerned” about the impact a findings of an independent review panel about July assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump will have a negative effect on the agency’s morale, according to a copy of the internal message obtained by CBS News.
In an email to Secret Service officials, Rowe said he has convened teams to discuss the bipartisan four-member panel’s findings. The report concluded that the agency suffers from “deep deficiencies” and called for it to undergo “fundamental reforms” to carry out its mission of protecting top government officials around the world, including sitting and former US presidents.
The assessment, carried out at the leadership of President Bidenwas at times a scathing rebuke of the Secret Service and its culture. The panel’s members said there needs to be an overhaul of the Secret Service’s leadership and a refocus on the “core protection mission” to mitigate the problems it identified.
“While I believe the intent behind the panel’s recommendations is to improve the focus and performance of the Secret Service, I am deeply concerned about the unintended impact on the agency’s morale, especially as so many of you work extremely long hours make and be away for weeks. from your families, and give so much to this organization and its mission,” Rowe said in the message addressed to Secret Service personnel.
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In the wake of the July 13 assassination attempt at Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the Secret Service has stepped up protection of key presidential and vice presidential candidates. Rowe had warned earlier that the agency’s ‘finite’ resources are used to the limit.
The acting Secret Service chief also told agency officials that he has “reservations” on some of the panel’s recommendations, particularly those related to a reorganization that would elevate the Office of Protective Operations, making it Office of Investigations and other departments would essentially be demoted.
In 1865, the Secret Service was created to curb rampant counterfeiting and restore confidence in the country’s financial system. The agency moved from the Treasury Department to the Department of Homeland Security following a post-9/11 restructuring, and its investigative division has evolved to investigate cases ranging from sophisticated ransomware attacks and identity fraud to money laundering.
But the panel noted its “extreme skepticism” that many of the Secret Service’s fact-finding missions “meaningfully contribute” to the protective capability and “could materially detract from it.”
“These are important points that deserve careful consideration and discussion, especially with those of you who work directly in these areas every day,” Rowe wrote.
The acting director said the Secret Service takes the panel’s findings seriously.
The attack on Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania put the Secret Service under intense scrutiny, especially over the gunman’s actions Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to gain access to a rooftop so close to where the former president spoke.
Trump and two others were injured in the shooting one participant in the meeting was killed.
The independent review panel is one of several groups investigating the shooting and joins the FBI, congressional committees and a bipartisan House task force. The four members said in a letter accompanying their report that they had identified “numerous errors” that led to the assassination attempt, as well as “deeper systemic issues that must be addressed with urgency.”
“The Secret Service as an agency requires fundamental reforms to carry out its mission,” the members said. “Without that reform, the Independent Review Panel believes another Butler can and will happen.”
