DENVER — There were significant failures in the Secret Service's planning, execution and leadership that led to the assassination attempt of President-elect Donald Trump during a campaign rally in July.
Those are among the findings of the congressional task force investigating the events in the Butler, Penn., attack on July 13. The task force released its final report Tuesday afternoon.
Colorado Rep. Jason Crow is the ranking Democrat on the task force, which conducted 46 interviews, reviewed nearly 20,000 pages of documents, and held more than a dozen briefings with federal, state, and local officials during its five-month investigation.
Denver7 anchor Shannon Ogden spoke with the Rep. Crow minutes after the report was released. Crow said the Secret Service is overtasked, underfunded, and suffers from a culture problem.
- Watch Shannon's full interview with Rep. Crow in the video player below:
Ogden asked Crow what the most surprising thing was that those in the task force discovered during the investigation.
"I think it was the culture of folks not speaking up and stepping up. There were a lot of people that day who knew there were things wrong, knew there were gaps in the security plan, but they didn't speak up," said Crow.
A glaring omission in the task force findings is motivation. Why did a gunman try to kill Mr. Trump? Crow said he doesn't know.
National Politics
4 US presidents were assassinated; Others were targeted, as were candidates
In the task force's pursuit of that question, Rep. Crow said the FBI and Department of Justice refused to share results of their investigation. Crow said members of the task force are still disputing the rights of those agencies to refuse.
On July 13, Thomas Matthew Crooks allegedly fired several rounds from a rooftop during a Trump campaign rally, shooting the president-elect in the ear, killing one spectator, and injuring two others.
Seconds after the shooting, a Secret Service sniper shot and killed Crooks.
According to an intelligence bulletin from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, Crooks bought 50 rounds of ammunition from a local gun store on the day of the shooting. Two improvised explosive devices were found in his car and another in his home.
The task force's report proposes 37 actionable recommendations to improve security operations and overall structure to the Secret Service.
Read the task force's full report here, or in the PDF below.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.