An independent panel investigating the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a July 13 Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally faulted the Secret Service for poor communications that day and failing to secure the building where the gunman took his shots.
The 52-page report also found more systemic issues at the agency such as a failure to understand the unique risks facing Trump and a culture of doing "more with less."
Ken Valentine served 24 years with the Secret Service, including 10 years with the Presidential Protection detail, and is the author of Cheating Death.
"Mixed reaction. I appreciate the independence of the group looking at the four individuals on there, but honestly it was like a nod to Captain Obvious what they wrote. In my opinion, the panel does not understand the Secret Service very well at all, and I suspect that they only looked at what happened at Butler and then extrapolated that on the whole Secret Service existence which is a huge mistake."
One rallygoer was killed and two others wounded when Thomas Michael Crooks climbed onto the roof of a nearby building and opened fire as Trump spoke in Butler. The former president was wounded in the ear before being rushed off the stage by Secret Service agents.
That shooting, along with another incident in Florida when Trump was golfing — a gunman there never got a line of site on the president or fired a shot — has led to a crisis in confidence in the agency.
No easy answers
Valentine takes issue with the panel's recommendation of bringing in new, outside leadership and refocusing on its protective mission.
"Every time there's a problem, that's what everyone claims, that we need new outside leadership. We've tried that before. We brought in a two-star general from the Marine Corps. He certainly did a fine job, but he didn't fundamentally transform the agency, and that's what really needs to happen."
