A counter-sniper from the Secret Service is advocating for the removal of five senior supervisors following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. He warns that another attack could happen before the November election, as revealed in a leaked email.
“This agency must undergo transformation; if not now, when?” the counter-sniper expressed in a message to the agency’s Uniformed Division, as reported by Susan Crabtree, a correspondent for RealClearPolitics. “Are we anticipating the next assassination attempt in 30 days? We should all be prepared for another incident before November.”
The email further states, “Failure is not an option, and on July 13, 2024, we experienced a failure. This was not due to a lack of commitment or dedication, but because our supervisors (or leadership) disregarded our concerns as unimportant.”
Politisite staff has not independently verified the authenticity of the email.
The counter-sniper has vowed to continue voicing his concerns until these individuals are removed, mentioning that one has already departed. The identity of this individual remains unspecified. However, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned last week after bipartisan criticism regarding security failures that allowed a sniper to target Trump from just 147 yards away during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Ronald Rowe has since taken over as the acting director of the Secret Service. He addressed senators on Tuesday, labeling the assassination attempt as “a failure” of the agency.
Tensions rose when Republican Senator Josh Hawley questioned Rowe about why certain individuals had not been dismissed. The acting director replied, “I want to assure you, senator, that I will not rush to judgment. Accountability will be enforced, and I will approach this with integrity, ensuring that no one is unfairly prosecuted.”
The unnamed counter-sniper indicated in the email that he will persist in his advocacy.
The anonymous counter-sniper expressed in an email that his team was often perceived as merely “individuals sitting on the roof” with little to no impact. He emphasized that the Secret Service’s duty extends beyond safeguarding “an EMPTY White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” and includes the critical task of averting and stopping “another JFK-style assassination, regardless of the location.”
“Regrettably, we have not met expectations for YEARS. We merely got fortunate and appeared competent in the process,” the email stated. It further noted that these sentiments had been communicated to both supervisors and training teams, who dismissed his concerns “as if those with less experience possessed greater knowledge than I did.”
“The team I once took pride in is now something I feel compelled to conceal as I transition to my next career,” the email conveyed. “Who would want to employ a USSS CS individual who has failed? That is the public image I now confront. The USSS CS team is a blemish I will never be able to erase.”
Ongoing investigations are examining the assassination attempt. On Tuesday, a joint hearing regarding the incident is being conducted by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
During his initial testimony, Rowe indicated that neither the Secret Service’s sniper team nor Trump’s security detail were aware of Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, being on the roof until he discharged his weapon at Trump, contradicting assertions from local law enforcement that they had informed the Secret Service of their concerns about Crooks more than 90 minutes prior to the shooting.
“The only information we received was that locals were addressing an issue at the three o’clock position — which would have been the former president’s right side — where the shot originated,” Rowe informed the senators on Tuesday. “There was no mention of a man on the roof or a man with a gun. None of that information reached our network.”
He added: “Had we received that information, we could have responded more swiftly. It seems that the information was either stuck or isolated within that local channel.”
