Rowe’s Job on Capitol Hill & The Trump Security Failures Are Now in Focus – Top 3 Takeaways
- Well, it was an improvement. As acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. testified before the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees it immediately became clear that he’s far more competent in leadership of the agency than his socially promoted predecessor (but then again that bar was so low you could have tripped over it). In Kimberly “Cheetos” Cheatle’s opening statement before Congress she said this... The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13th is the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades and I am keeping him and his family in my thoughts. The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13th, we failed. As the Director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse. She was right, and it was through her testimony that day that it became clear that she was in way over her head. She had so little command of her agency and of the failure at hand she was inept in being able to answer even the most basic of questions while clearly lacking effective decision making and leadership skills. Among the lapses in judgement of Cheatle following the failures...it was revealed that she’d not chosen to talk with the local law enforcement partners in Butler, Pennsylvania that were assisting the Secret Service in securing the event. For that matter it became known that she’d not even bothered to travel to the location of the attack to personally gain a better understanding of the failures that took place that day. You don’t need to be a Secret Service director or even a person in middle management to be able to deduce that those would be two of the first things you should do in the immediate aftermath of such a failure. But that she didn’t even think to do those things provided insight into how failed her thought processes and ability to lead an organization as critical as the Secret Service happened to be. It’s no wonder there was a massive organizational failure under her watch. So, now enter into the picture Ronald Rowe. What did he have to say in his opening statement? I laid in a prone position to evaluate his line of sight. What I saw made me ashamed. As a career law enforcement officer and a 25 year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured. Obviously, the things that Cheatle didn’t do. That’s a start. And rather than waiting 60 days for a government report to come out to potentially make significant operational changes - which is what Cheatle indicated during her hearing that she intended to do... Rowe was on the ball stating this... I directed our personnel to ensure every event site security plan is thoroughly vetted by multiple experienced supervisors before it is implemented. It is clear to me that other protective enhancements could have strengthened our security. And among the immediate improvements in operational structure...
- He’s already directed the use of drones to assess and surveil sites and opening lines of communication with local law enforcement. So, for example, you don’t have a local law enforcement agency sharing texts about a subject with a range finder staring at the stage that’s kept among themselves and that is never fully communicated to the Secret Service. Or that you have local law enforcement confronting the subject on a roof with a line of sight to the former and future President of the United States – stating on radio that he has a long gun 30 seconds before an attack – that the Secret Service onsite never hears. Rowe also offered up this...If this investigation reveals that Secret Service employees violated agency protocols, those employees will be held accountable to our disciplinary process. Bingo. Identify and immediately fix the failures in the system now and let the investigation determine individual accountability measures. That's how credible leadership is done. Ronald Rowe Jr., who wasn’t promoted to Secret Service Director because Jill Biden and her assistant liked him, appears like he’s at least a bit more competent in the job...however, with him, the bureaucracy for him does come into play. Has he fired anyone yet? No. Does he intend to fire anyone? Maybe. When pressed he said time and again that he’d let the investigation play out before he’d hold individuals within the Secret Service to account. This once again illustrates the vast differences in the real world – like your workplace. And the government’s world that you fund with the work that you do at your workplace. There’s no analogous example of a failure in your work that has the stakes of the Trump assassination attempt. But imagine for a moment, at whatever it is that you do, there was the grandest possible failure that took place. How long would it take for those who presided over it to be fired? But in the swamp, which extends to just about every government organization that exists, we wait for reports to be produced to see who specifically should have personal accountability. And then they’re usually reassigned or forced to resign with some government goodies courtesy of you and me.
- As for (most of) the rest of the story... What we also learned from the Deputy FBI Director testifying before the Senate was this that neatly ties together all of the bits and pieces of details that have been reported on over the 2+weeks since the attack... Quoting Paul Abbate: On July 6th, the shooter registered to attend the rally and performed a search for, quote, how far was Oswald from Kennedy? On July 7th, the shooter traveled from his home to the Butler Farm Showgrounds and remained there for approximately 20 minutes. We assess this shows advanced planning and reconnaissance on his part. On July 12th, the shooter traveled from his home to the Clairton Sportsman Club, where he practiced shooting. On the morning of July 13th, at approximately 10 a.m., the shooter returned to the Farm Show grounds and remained there for about 70 minutes before returning home again. At approximately 1:30 p.m., while at the residence, the shooter's father gave him a rifle for the purpose he believed of going back to the sportsman club. About 25 minutes later, the shooter, purchased ammunition while enroute to the Butler Farm Showgrounds. The subject then arrived at the scene was moving around the farm showgrounds close to the American Glass Research Building, from which he ultimately committed the attack. Shortly thereafter, at approximately 3:51 p.m., the shooter flew a drone approximately 200 yards from the Farm Showgrounds for about 11 minutes. The drone and controller were later found in the subject's car. Analysis has not revealed any photos or video taken by the drone, but we can confirm that he was livestreaming at the time and would have been able to view it on his controller. The first reported citing (of) the shooter by local law enforcement, was at approximately 4:26 p.m.. At approximately 5:10 p.m., the shooter was again identified by local law enforcement as a suspicious person around the building, and approximately 5:14 p.m., a local SWAT operator took a photo of the shooter. At about 5:32 p.m., local SWAT observed the shooter next to the building using his phone, browsing news sites and with a range finder. At approximately 5:38 p.m., the photo of the shooter, taken earlier. Subsequently, approximately 25 minutes prior to the shooting, the U.S. Secret Service command post was notified of a suspicious person. Officers lost sight of the subject from approximately 6:02 p.m. to 6:08 p.m., but continued to communicate with each other in an attempt to locate him. Recently discovered video from a local business shows the shooter pulling himself up onto the AGR building rooftop. At approximately 6:06 p.m. and approximately 6:08 p.m., the subject was observed on the roof by local law enforcement. At approximately 6:11 p.m., a local police officer was lifted to the roof by another officer, saw the shooter, and radioed that he was armed with, quote, a long gun. Within approximately the next 30s, the shots were fired. As always there are two sides to stories and one side to facts. In the Senate testimony it finally appears that we have a detailed rundown of the facts that also clearly illustrate the failures that day. And importantly, at least a somewhat more competent Acting Secret Service Director who immediately acted on them.