Inspector General: Secret Service's Failure to Secure Mobile Devices Heightened Risk for U.S. Leaders

The U.S. Secret Service failed to secure mobile devices that became security risks, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) said pertaining to a review of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.

The OIG, which operates under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said in its report published Monday it found the Secret Service “did not effectively secure and manage mobile devices, including during protective operations. As a result, adversaries could have intercepted and exploited Secret Service information, placing at risk our Nation’s leaders, other protectees, and employees — especially when unsecured devices were used overseas.”

The office noted that during other reviews after the attempted assassination in Butler, officials learned, “Secret Service personnel frequently used personal cell phones for official business, raising security concerns. We conducted this review to determine whether the Secret Service effectively manages and secures mobile devices used to conduct official Government business, including its protective mission.”

Furthermore, the OIG report said:

This heightened risk occurred because the Secret Service’s process for identifying and implementing mobile device capabilities did not always fully identify employees’ operational needs, leaving employees without essential capabilities such that they resorted to using personal devices. The Secret Service’s processes for securing mobile devices for international use were insufficient, and it did not have a policy of testing mobile device app code before installation.

The OIG noted it made five recommendations to improve mobile device security and “reduce the use of unmanaged personal mobile devices,” adding the Secret Service concurred with those recommendations.

President Trump’s right ear was bloodied when a bullet grazed it and members of the Secret Service rushed him offstage moments after shots were fired in an assassination attempt during the Butler rally, Breitbart News reported at the time.

Video footage showed the intense moments when shots rang out:

In an update hours later, the outlet said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed the shooter was Thomas Matthew Crooks. He was shot dead at the scene by Secret Service officers.

“The attack was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981 as he was leaving a speech in Washington, DC, and walking to his motorcade,” Breitbart News reported the following day.

In a statement not long after the attempt on his life, Trump thanked the Secret Service and police for their response during the incident and also said, “Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured.”

Breitbart News reported in December 2024, “The Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump released its final report, finding that there were ‘failures in the planning, execution, and leadership’ of the United States Secret Service.”