US / Secret Service Secret Service Inquiry: Agency Just Isn't Smart Enough Scathing bipartisan report faults 'critical thinking,' calls for outside leadership By John Johnson, Newser Staff Posted Oct 17, 2024 8:37 AM CDT Copied Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is helped off the stage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) An independent panel has finished its assessment of the Secret Service after the July assassination attempt on former President Trump, and it's as scathing as expected. Overview: The "Secret Service as an agency requires fundamental reform to carry out its mission," says the 52-page report, per the Washington Post. "Without that reform, the Independent Review Panel believes another Butler can and will happen again," it adds, referring to the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. 2 big changes: The panel said the agency needed an outside leader, as quickly as possible, to come in and shake things up, reports the New York Times. It also urged the Secret Service to focus solely on protection, which would mean shedding other duties such as the investigation of financial crimes. Not my fault: The report cited a "lack of ownership" among agents and supervisors it interviewed after the assassination attempt, per the AP. Meaning, they failed to take adequate steps beforehand or own up to failures afterward. What's more, they "have done little in the way of self-reflection in terms of identifying areas of missteps, omissions or opportunities for improvement," the report reads. Weak thinking: The report also said the agency suffers from a lack of "critical thinking," noting that it should have been obvious that Trump needed better security given the "strong emotions" he generates in so many people. The panel: It was led by former Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano, who served in the Obama administration; Frances Townsend, a Homeland Security adviser under George W. Bush; David Mitchell, who served in various law-enforcement roles in Maryland and Delaware; and Mark Filip, deputy attorney general under Bush and a former federal judge. "The service has become insular and stale," Napolitano tells the Times. (More Secret Service stories.) Report an error