Still reveling in his political comeback after surviving two near-miss assassination attempts, last December, then-President-elect Trump stopped by the Christmas party of the Secret Service detail that was responsible for both saving his life and the failures that nearly ended it.
Trump, at the time, responded to the mixed feelings in trademark fashion: He regaled the agents gathered for some light-hearted celebration after a turbulent few months but didn’t mince words for one junior agent who was charged with leading security for the Butler and he appeared to hold responsible for some of the most glaring failures.
“As you guys can see, that person is no longer welcome here,” he told the crowd, elaborating that he didn’t want this agent anywhere near him ever again, according to several Secret Service sources familiar with his comments.
Fast forward seven months, just days away from the one-year anniversary of the failures at the Butler rally: The Secret Service announced limited disciplinary actions for those it deemed responsible for security lapses. Six agents, including Myosoty Perez, whom Trump was referring to at the December party, have been placed on 10-42 days of unpaid leave for their roles in the egregious security breaches.
We’re Not Going To “Fire [Our] Way Out of This”
No agents were fired, and the Secret Service argued that the entire agency had failed, not just the individuals, so firings wouldn’t solve the problem.
Matt Quinn, the agency’s deputy director, told CBS News that they “weren’t going to fire [their] way out of this,” stressing instead they would be “laser-focused on fixing the root cause of the problem.”
The Secret Service didn’t disclose their names, roles, or where they fell in the 10-42 suspension. RealClearPolitics, however, revealed the names of the six suspended agents on Thursday, along with the outraged reaction from the public and within the rank-and-file Secret Service agents and officers over such mild punishment.
While Trump’s life was saved, Corey Comperatore, a retired firefighter who attended the rally, was shot to death while beside his wife and daughters that day. After hearing about the light suspensions this week, his widow, Helen Comperatore, lashed out at the Secret Service, calling it “garbage” and a “hot mess” and complained that neither Curran nor any Secret Service agents had ever met with her to explain how they allowed shooter Thomas Crooks an opening to kill her husband.
“We were all sitting ducks that day. Our blood is all over their hands. I am angry. I lost the love of my life. They screwed up,” Helen Comperatore told Fox News, while demanding far more accountability from the Secret Service.
Trump called Helen Comperatore after watching her interview and pledged to always be there for her. Curran phoned her as well, saying he felt heartbroken after hearing how she felt ahead of the one-year anniversary of the shooting in Butler. He agreed to meet with her to review the case.
Many Secret Service agents watching the heart-wrenching spectacle play out over the last 48 hours sympathized with the Comperatore family’s resentment.
The Secret Service press release announcing the slap-on-the-wrist penalties “might as well have been a Babylon Bee headline or a twisted episode of Antiques Roadshow,” one agent remarked to RCP. “Secret Service Appraises the Life of Corey Comperatore as Being Worth Somewhere Between 10 and 42 Days of Unpaid Suspension.”
“God bless the Comperatore family,” the agent added. “They deserve better from us.”
Secret Service Brass Didn’t Share Threat Intel With Many Rally Planners
While there’s ongoing frustration over the light punishments, Quinn isn’t wrong that the Secret Service’s problems run deep. Despite two thorough congressional investigations last year and another conducted by a bipartisan Independent Review Board, alarming new information continues to surface about the internal agency mismanagement that created openings for the two assassination attempts last year.
Sen. Chuck Grassley on Saturday morning released a new report concluding that senior-level Secret Service leaders received classified intelligence regarding a threat to Trump’s life ten days before the Butler rally.
Last year, in the wake of the Butler rally, Grassley released sensitive information about an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump after several reports surfaced that the FBI, one day before the Butler rally, had arrested a Pakistani man with ties to Iran who was in New York actively trying to solicit and pay would-be assassins.
Despite the early classified briefings about a threat, those senior officials failed to relay the information to federal and local law enforcement personnel responsible for securing and staffing the event. Those excluded from the briefing shockingly include Perez, the agent in charge of planning and executing security for the July 13 Trump event, the Government Accountability Office found. Grassley commissioned the GAO to investigate the rally failures.
Sources in the Secret Service community, however, tell RCP that Perez may have not be forthcoming with GAO investigators — that she had to know of a heightened threat because counter snipers were added to the rally — the first time such the added layer of security usually reserved for presidents was taken during the 2024 Trump campaign. Additionally, throughout the campaign, all Secret Service agents had been briefed about the ongoing Iranian threat upon their arrival at Mar-a-Lago. (The report Grassley released only identifies agents by their titles, but multiple sources have confirmed to RCP the names and identities of all the agents involved in the Butler security planning and execution.)
Meredith Bank, the lead advance agent from the Pittsburgh Field Office, was briefed on the threat, which was not specific to the Butler rally, although other members of that office, including top supervisors who were placed on suspension with her, were not briefed, the GAO found. Bank’s job as the lead agent was broader than securing the site itself. She was charged with devising the plans to secure Trump from the time he touched down at the airport to the time he left the rally and his plane departed.
As a result of the siloed information sharing, many federal and all local law enforcement planning and staffing the event, including Perez and other members of the Trump protective detail and the Pittsburgh Field Office, were unaware of the active threat. Local law enforcement officers told the GAO that if they had received the threat information, they “would have requested additional assets” for the Butler rally.
“The Secret Service had no process to share classified threat information with partners when the information was not considered an imminent threat to life,” the GAO concluded, offering eight recommendations to improve Secret Service functionality. Chief among them is a recommendation for the USSS to proactively share threat information among Secret Service personnel and its local partners.
In another egregious failure, the Secret Service lacked a formal policy for communicating the Trump campaign staff’s requested changes to the on-site security plans.
Ahead of the Butler rally, a Trump campaign staffer asked the advance team members, who were unaware of the active threat to Trump, not to use large farm equipment to address line-of-sight concerns near the AGR building so as not to interfere with campaign press photos, the GAO report asserts. In response to the request, the USSS advance team made the decision to use a “jumbotron and a large flag to address the line-of-sight vulnerability,” rather than the large farm equipment.
The GAO found that not using the farm equipment possibly created an opportunity for the gunman to use the AGR’s elevated rooftop to fire several shots at Trump and other rally participants.
The Secret Service’s War Room back in Washington, which is responsible for allocating resources to events, denied the Trump detail’s request for enhanced counter-drone equipment for the Butler event. As previously reported, the limited counter-drone equipment that was used malfunctioned, and as repairs were being made, Crooks flew his drone undetected hours before the rally began.
The agent assigned to operate the counter-drone systems was “severely inexperienced” and had received only one hour of training in the equipment’s capabilities, according to the GAO report.
That wasn’t the only technical breakdown. As previously reported, Secret Service agents and local law enforcement who relied on cell phones to communicate with one another encountered limited service, hampering their ability to share information in real-time. Despite knowing that tens of thousands of attendees were expected, the Secret Service had no policy to troubleshoot potential audio and data communication challenges. The agency has yet to require agents to perform such an assessment, the GAO found.
“One year ago, a series of bad decisions and bureaucratic handicaps led to one of the most shocking moments in political history,” Grassley, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “The Secret Service’s failure on July 13th was the culmination of years of mismanagement and came after the Biden administration denied requests for enhanced security to protect President Trump.”
“Naturally, the American people wanted answers and accountability in the aftermath of this tragedy, so I worked hard to provide that,” he said, also noting that one important step he has already taken was to allocate $1.17 billion in the One Big Beautiful Bill to provide the Secret Service with additional funding.
Sen. Johnson Subpoenas FBI for Information on Crooks
Grassley isn’t the only lawmaker frustrated with the lack of government transparency surrounding the assassination attempt.
Late Friday, Sen. Ron Johnson, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, subpoenaed FBI Director Kash Patel for records relating to Crooks. The Wisconsin Republican is demanding security footage obtained of Crooks’ movements in advance of the shooting and forensic reports on the assassination attempt, including ballistics, trajectory, explosive, and drone analysis records. He also asked for documents related to Crooks’ social media and email accounts, search history, call logs, and other communications.
“One year following the assassination attempt of President Trump, the American people still do not have answers to all of their questions about the breakdown of security at the Butler campaign rally and detailed information about the would-be assassin, Thomas Crooks,” Johnson said in a statement. “I had expected the FBI to be more forthcoming with the public and provide my office with the records we have been seeking for months. I am issuing the subpoena to help prompt transparency, and I look forward to Director Patel’s full cooperation.”
Supervisors Skate While Lower-Level Agents Get Suspended
Agents and officers are also incensed that key supervisors who signed off on the security plan but failed to identify glaring security holes during a final walkthrough were not only spared any disciplinary action—Curran promoted them. It’s unclear if these supervisors knew about the Iranian threat.
One of those supervisors on the final walkthroughs, Nick Menster, was assigned this year as the second agent in charge of the Lara and Eric Trump protective detail. The other, Nick Olszewski, ironically became chief of the Inspection Division, which falls under the Office of Professional Responsibility and is responsible for ensuring the accountability and integrity of the agency’s personnel and operations.
Many in the Secret Service community, both active agents and officers and those who have retired, are still seething that inexperienced agents whom they argue were positioned for failure, and Bank, who spoke out about the ambiguity regarding how the American Glass Research building roof would be covered, are taking the fall while the several key supervisors appear to have skated.
Initially, the Secret Service had recommended three to six months of unpaid leave for some of the agents they were holding responsible for the Butler failures. Eventually, that was dialed back to 52 days without pay.
However, lawyers for the agents successfully further scaled the discipline down to 10 to 42 unpaid days. This is a relatively light punishment for such egregious failures, but the fact that some of these agents didn’t receive the supervisory oversight that an outdoor rally of this magnitude required is likely a mitigating factor. If so, that raises the question of why key supervisors appear to have skated.
The agents being suspended may still decide to sue the agency. “We avoided more severe sanctions, and now we’re assessing the next steps with respect to these discussions,” said Larry Berger, an attorney for several of the suspended agents who previously served as general counsel for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. Berger now has his own firm, Berger and Deplas.
The six who are under unpaid suspension are:
Myosoty Perez – a relatively inexperienced agent (according to congressional testimony and the GAO, which did not name her) who was the “site agent” in charge of the overall security for the rally. With only three and a half years on the job at the time of the Butler rally and only one to two years of experience on the Donald Trump campaign detail, Perez had no previous experience leading security for such a large outdoor rally.
Additionally, Perez has a reputation as an “unserious agent” known for partying and for posting on social media from her security assignments, including from Mar-a-Lago, as RCP reported last year. Perez was not selected to lead security for the big outdoor J13 rally but simply had her “rotation” come up, according to multiple Secret Service sources. The GAO report and those from Congress have urged the agency to assign experienced agents to more complicated rallies with higher threat levels.
After Butler, Perez was initially placed on paid administrative leave, then moved from the traveling Trump campaign detail to the Miami Field Office, where she first served on the duty-desk assignment before being returned to protective operations, according to multiple sources. Her assignments have been limited to Florida-based investigations and protecting foreign dignitaries, with no involvement in matters related to Mar-a-Lago, Trump, or his family.
Despite the ban on protecting Trump, the Miami assignment has stirred resentment from peers who say it’s her hometown and first choice and allows her to skip the typically rigorous Phase 2 assignments that require long hours and constant travel.
Meredith Bank – a far more experienced agent out of the Pittsburgh Field Office who was serving as the “lead agent” for the day of the rally. Her job was overseeing operations from a broader perspective – from the time Trump arrived at the airport to the final departure. She told congressional investigators that she informed Perez that her supervisor, Menster, would be asking her where the local law enforcement were to be positioned in/on the AGR building. Menster, however, never specifically asked that question, according to the congressional transcripts and sources familiar with the issue.
Bank is the female agent whose images in the aftermath of the assassination attempt went viral when she had trouble holstering her gun among the frenzied scene of agents, many of them female, struggling to move Trump into the motorcade and drive it out of the rally site. Despite these terrible optics, agency sources argue that Bank, a mid-career agent who had spent time in Washington, D.C., on a top protective detail, was well-prepared in her role as the lead agent for the rally and is generally well-respected within the agency.
It’s also important to note that Bank was out sick the day before the rally, so she did not attend the Friday morning walkthrough with the supervisors.
Dana Dubrey – a mid-level agent in the Pittsburgh Field Office who served as the “site counterpart.”
Tim Burke – the chief (special agent in charge) of the Pittsburgh Field Office.
Brian Pardini – the No. 2 in charge of the Pittsburgh Field Office.
John Marciniak – one of two Uniformed Division counter-snipers assigned to the rally late because of the intelligence-based Iranian threat to Trump’s life. Marciniak, a relatively junior officer, had just two days, instead of the customary five, to formulate his security plan. Even though the counter-snipers were assigned to the rally because of the Iranian threat, a knowledgeable source tells RCP even they were never briefed on the threats Trump faced at the time.
Why Is the Pittsburgh Field Office Taking the Fall?
There’s a big contingent in the Secret Service that believes the Pittsburgh office is unfairly taking the fall for the egregious Butler security breaches. However, the Trump detail, and the team of Perez and Menster, with Olszewski serving as an inspector, would traditionally be the parties with primary responsibility for a rally’s overall security and failures.
On the fateful rally day in Butler, it was a senior counter-sniper who shot and killed Crooks. A local law enforcement officer, Sgt. Aaron M. Zaliponi of the Adams Township Police Department, argues he fired the first shot that may have hit Crooks’ rifle and stopped him in his tracks, likely preventing Trump’s murder and more casualties.
While the senior leaders on the Trump detail were briefed on the threat, most if not all of the Pittsburgh Field Office, other than Bank, were kept in the dark.
If most of the Pittsburgh agents were never informed, it begs the question as to why Dubrey, and that office’s supervisors, Burke and Pardini, are among those being suspended for the security breaches.
Secret Service counter-snipers independently assess the vulnerabilities of sites, especially long-range threats, and come up with their own security plan, which is also supposed to be thoroughly vetted by their own superiors. It appears that Marciniak also didn’t realize the AGR building roof wasn’t covered because he lacked experience covering a non-presidential or vice-presidential event, which don’t usually have high-level security assets.
Secret Service Discloses Some Reforms, but Questions Linger
In announcing the suspensions Thursday, the Secret Service also noted several operational, policy, and organizational reforms the agency has undertaken since the two assassination attempts last year. The agency highlighted changes to its protective operations aimed at ensuring “clear lines of accountability and improved information sharing with local law enforcement partners,” as well as the creation of an Aviation and Airspace division dedicated to upgrading its drone and drone mitigation and monitoring capabilities. Officials also said that Curran is leading an effort to change its resourcing process to ensure that assets are “better accounted for and appropriately applied.”
While the agency claimed to be implementing all 46 recommendations from Congress, it is notably disregarding another by the bipartisan Independent Review Board. The board called on the Secret Service to narrow its mission to protecting the president, the vice president, their families, and certain Cabinet members, while eliminating investigations into financial crimes and child trafficking.
Curran and his immediate predecessor, former acting Director Ron Rowe, had also tried to help stanch the talent drain the agency has experienced over the last several years, which has only accelerated in the wake of the campaign and the assassination attempts. Large numbers of senior agents in recent months have decided to retire or transfer to other agencies, with the Drug Enforcement Agency picking up large numbers of former USSS agents, sources tell RCP.
Efforts to replenish the ranks with new recruits by using signing and retention bonuses have had mixed results, with the agency forced to lower its educational and physical standards to replenish the diminished ranks, according to several sources in the Secret Service community.
In recent years, the Secret Service usually required at least a bachelor’s degree to become an agent; now an estimated 30% of recently accepted applicants lack one, according to multiple agency sources. In comparison, the FBI still requires an undergraduate degree to become an agent.
One recent class of recruits lost eight people of 24, a source told RCP, calling it “a very high loss but one that has been typical” over the last year. Some washed out of the training, while others transferred to different federal agencies.
“The bar is so low [for hiring], it’s almost like the agency is begging for a tragedy to happen again,” one source asserted, noting that the agency lacks a mental health assessment in its hiring process and some obese applicants have been hired and allowed to pass the physical training even though they don’t meet previous standards.
The Secret Service didn’t respond to RCP’s recruitment and retention questions.
A source familiar with the agency’s policies said Curran has nixed a major DEI priority under the previous administration’s leadership. Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who was forced to resign after the Butler assassination attempt, has signed the “30×30” pledge, a national law enforcement program aimed at hiring 30% women agents or officers by 2030.
The agency, however, also didn’t respond to questions about the status of the dozens of agency employees previously assigned to DEI programs who were put on administrative leave earlier this year under Trump’s executive order banning those initiatives. It also declined to say whether DEI priorities still factor into hiring and promotion decisions.
In late May, two female Secret Service agents were suspended after RCP obtained a video of them fighting in front of former President Obama’s D.C. residence, just the latest in a series of incidents raising questions about the agency’s DEI priorities.
This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.