Acting Director of the US Secret Service, Ronald Rowe, said Thursday before a committee of the US House of Representatives that he has reformed the agency's security practices, following the assassination of President-elect Donald Trump in July.
He testified before a House task force of seven Republicans and six Democrats that has been investigating two assassination attempts on Mr. Trump during this year's presidential campaign. The commission is expected to vote on the approval of a final report within the day, reports A2 CNN.
"It is essential that we admit our failure on July 13, 2024. I personally bear the weight of knowing that we almost lost a person under our protection and that our failure cost the life of a father and husband. This entire incident represents a failure to meet expectations and responsibilities of the Secret Service," Mr. Rowe testified.
The Secret Service has faced questions about staffing levels and communications capabilities following the assassinations of Mr. Trump.
A gunman fired eight times during a Mr Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July, wounding Mr Trump in the ear and killing another attendee. The gunman was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.
Two months later, a gunman hid near a golf course owned by Mr. Trump in Florida with the intention of killing the then-Republican candidate while he was playing golf, prosecutors said.
The suspect, Ryan Routh, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges and is awaiting trial.
Mr. Rowe was praised by many Republican lawmakers for cooperating with the investigation, but he reacted angrily to Republican Rep. Pat Fallon after the latter raised questions about Mr. Rowe's participation in a ceremony this year commemorating the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"Don't use 9/11 for political purposes! You're overdoing it, Congressman," shouted Mr. Rowe, adding that he was part of the rapid response to the World Trade Center after the attack and attended the ceremony to represent the Secret Service.
Mr Fallon said he was making "serious enquiries" about whether Mr Rowe was there to protect senior officials at the ceremony.
Mr. Rowe said he felt "embarrassed" about the security lapses surrounding the Pennsylvania bombing. He defended the agency's response to the Florida incident, praising an agent who spotted the gunman before he opened fire.
The acting director of the Secret Service said he has made a number of changes since the shooting, including increasing training for agents, improving communication with local law enforcement and increasing the number of Secret Service agents protecting Mr. Trump.
Mr. Rowe testified that he has tried to eliminate what he called a "do more with less mentality" in the Secret Service, which he said is having a "degrading effect" on the agency. He said the agency is taking steps to increase staffing and is in the process of hiring 650 special agents and 350 officers in the coming months.
The shooting at the rally shook confidence in the Secret Service, damaging the reputation of the elite group that protects US presidents and dignitaries, whose motto is "zero failure".
The Secret Service has not generally been the target of Mr. Trump's criticism of federal law enforcement and pledges to reform government, but the agency's response to the Pennsylvania assassination drew condemnation from both sides of politics.
A preliminary House task force report released in October found a lack of coordination between the Secret Service and local law enforcement before the July rally.
Republican lawmaker Mike Kelly, chairman of the task force, praised Mr. Rowe for implementing the reforms and pointed to what he called a culture of complacency at the agency.
Mr. Kelly said that when Mr. Trump returned to Butler, Pennsylvania, for another rally in October, the change in security measures was "like night and day."/ Voice of America (A2 Televizion)
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