'A security failure at every level': One year after Trump's failed assassination, report denounces 'inexcusable' Secret Service errors

On July 13, 2024, a man shot Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The then-candidate escaped with a minor ear injury, but one spectator was killed and two others were wounded before the gunman was killed.

"This was not a single mistake, but the result of a cascade of avoidable errors that nearly cost President Trump his life," the Senate National Security Committee document thunders. " What happened is inexcusable."

The report does not address the shooter's motive, which remains unclear, but accuses the police of repeated failures in not having spotted the 20-year-old man, Thomas Crooks, in time, who managed to climb onto a roof and aim at the candidate.

"The Secret Service failed to act on reliable intelligence" and " did not coordinate with local law enforcement," wrote Rand Paul, the Republican chairman of the committee.

"This was a security failure at every level, made possible by bureaucratic indifference, the lack of clearly established protocols and the shocking refusal to act in the face of direct threats," he added.

And, "despite these failings, no one has been dismissed," the senator said, calling for some to be held accountable and for reforms to be put in place.

Disciplinary sanctions and resignation

Ten days after the assassination attempt, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned , and six officers in the service were served with disciplinary sanctions.

In October, an independent commission of inquiry called for a "thorough" reform of the Secret Service, citing "systemic" problems.

Donald Trump had reused the images of that day, his raised fist and his bloodied face, to mobilize his troops for the November election.

In a second alleged assassination attempt in September, a gunman was spotted near Donald Trump while he was playing golf in Florida. The man was arrested and charged.