AILSA CHANG, HOST:
A Congressional task force investigating the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump held its first hearing today. Chairman Mike Kelly, the Pennsylvania congressman who was at the Butler rally, said a series of failures allowed shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks to gain access.
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MIKE KELLY: There was not a single mistake that allowed Crooks to outmaneuver one of our country's most elite group of security professionals. There were security failures on multiple fronts.
CHANG: The bipartisan panel heard from local and state officials who detailed what they saw leading up to the shooting. Joining us now is NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales, who's been covering this story. Hi, Claudia.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK. We just heard the chairman there say that there were multiple security breakdowns at this rally in Butler. What were they, according to him?
GRISALES: Right. Kelly said this task force has identified three key failures. First, lack of Secret Service planning. It created confusion among their law enforcement partners in Butler. And they were not assertive on key decisions like the placement and the delegation of law enforcement personnel. Second, they did not close down or limit public access to grounds next to the rally site less than 150 yards from the stage. And third, the security communication, the command structure were not cohesive and didn't allow for rapid deployment of shared information or decision making.
CHANG: OK. Well, what did state and local law enforcement officials say to the lawmakers about how these failures impacted their ability to secure the rally site that day?
GRISALES: They said there was ultimately a critical three-minute period where they were able to locate the shooter on top of one of these buildings for the American Glass Research International Company. But getting that information to Secret Service and their quick response teams was a race against time and ultimately disorganization. Sgt. Edward Lenz for Adams Township Police Department - also, he acted as commander for Butler County Emergency Services Unit - had this to say.
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EDWARD LENZ: And I radioed to our quick reaction force to deploy them to the AGR complex to begin to address that threat. Prior to me finishing that radio transmission, you can hear the shots being fired through my open microphone.
GRISALES: So with all these communication failures and law enforcement and Secret Service operating on different radio channels and modes of communication, they did not have time to get Trump away from the stage by the time Crooks started firing.
CHANG: Clearly. Well, the thing is, Claudia, Congress has investigated issues at the Secret Service for - what? - at least the past decade. There have been public reports of agent misconduct, concerns about communication and records retention. Is there even a sense that this particular incident this time is leading to any substantive changes?
GRISALES: Well, that is the hope. But we also have to consider the time constraints facing this latest wave of probes into the agency. We are in the final months of this congressional session. And it also overlaps with the final weeks before this year's election. And if we look at the recent stopgap funding measure, they got more money, but there's not a lot of time to use those funds to address these issues. So when it comes to restructuring or other bigger changes for the agency that might address these repeated failures, officials say they need a lot more time.
CHANG: That is NPR's Claudia Grisales. Thank you so much, Claudia.
GRISALES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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