Secret Service made ‘preventable’ errors that led to Trump rally shooting, Senate report finds – US politics live

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Harris to sit for interview with MSNBC

Shifting to campaign news, MSNBC just announced that Kamala Harris will speak with host Stephanie Ruhle this evening from Pittsburgh, in what will be the vice-president’s first solo interview with a television network since launching her presidential campaign:

CNN interviewed Harris earlier this month alongside her running mate, Tim Walz. Since then, she has done a small number of interviews, mostly with local outlets or those catering to specific audiences, such as Hispanic radio host Stephanie “Chiquibaby” Himonidis, and Wired, the tech magazine.

The Secret Service’s failures to adequately protect Donald Trump at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally drew criticism from both Democrats and Republicans on the homeland security committee, which issued the report today.

Here’s Democratic committee chair Gary Peters:

From planning missteps, to the siloed and flawed communication to the lack of effective coordination between law enforcement, to the breakdowns in technology, the Secret Service’s failures that allowed an assassination attempt on former President Trump at his July 13 rally were shocking, unacceptable, and preventable – and they led to tragic consequences.

And Republican ranking member Rand Paul:

Our initial findings clearly show a series of multiple failures of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and an inexcusable dereliction of duty.

Not only did USSS fail to ensure the AGR roof was adequately covered, they were also aware of a suspicious individual with a rangefinder for at least 27 minutes and did not delay proceedings or remove former President Trump from the stage, even after being informed that the suspicious individual was on the roof of the AGR building. Someone needs to be held accountable for these egregious failures by the USSS, and despite USSS, DHS, FBI, ATF, and other federal agencies’ continued obstruction of our bipartisan investigation, I will continue to push for answers and accountability.

Secret Service plagued by communications failures at Trump's Pennsylvania rally, report finds

The Secret Service’s ability to protect Donald Trump at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally was hampered by a range of communications failures, including faulty radios and a lack of ability to quickly get in touch with state and local police on the scene, the Senate homeland security committee found in its interim report into the assassination attempt.

The radios used by agents were known to be faulty, and the report found at least one instance of an agent giving his radio to a colleague whose device was not working. There was also no system for the Secret Service to quickly communicate with the local police agencies on the scene, and the agency did not “adequately consider” local law enforcement’s plans at the rally.

The committee also found that Secret Service employees responsible for planning the security of the rally “deflected blame”, and claimed that all decisions were made jointly with local law enforcement, with no single individual responsible.

Senate finds 'preventable' Secret Service errors in preparing for Trump Pennsylvania rally where assassin opened fire

Good morning, US politics blog readers. The Secret Service made “preventable” errors at Donald Trump’s July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania that was marred by an assassination attempt, the Senate homeland security committee found in its interim report into the incident released this morning. The report said that a warning from local police of a shooter on the roof of a building overlooking the rally was not relayed to the Secret Service, that a Secret Service counter-sniper who saw officers running towards the building with guns drawn did not think to tell his colleagues to pull Trump off stage, and that law enforcement agencies on the scene used different radio channels to communicate.

It’s the latest damning finding about the failures by the Secret Service to safeguard Trump at one of his trademark outdoor campaign rallies. An internal report from the agency last week detailed similar communications breakdowns, and the Senate report’s release comes a day after prosecutors announced a charge of attempted assassination against a man arrested in Florida last week for allegedly plotting to shoot Trump at his golf course. We’ll tell you more about the Senate’s finding, and the reaction to them, later in the day.

Here’s what else is happening today:

• Kamala Harris will lay out her vision for the economy with a speech in Pittsburgh expected at 3.15pm ET. Trump did the same yesterday in battleground state Georgia, where he proposed high tariffs and lower taxes he said could bring back jobs from overseas. Economists are skeptical of his plan.

• Congress is expected to late this afternoon approve a spending bill that will keep the government open till 20 December, forestalling a shutdown in the weeks before the November election.

• The UN general assembly continues in New York, with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy set to address world leaders. You can follow our live blog on the latest Ukraine news here.