The Secret Service suspended at least six agents last year in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, while he was still a candidate.
The revelation comes a day after the Justice Department announced two people have been charged with gun-related crimes after selling a gun to another would-be Trump assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, just a few weeks before his alleged attempted assassination. He allegedly attempted to shoot Trump in September 2024.
Deputy Secret Service Director Matt Quinn told CBS News on Wednesday that the agents who were suspended over the first assassination attempt were given penalties that ranged from 10-42 days of suspension without pay or benefits.
“We are laser-focused on fixing the root cause of the problem,” Quinn said while defending the agency’s decision not to fire anyone in the wake of the assassination attempt. “We aren’t going to fire our way out of this. We’re going to focus on the root cause and fix the deficiencies that put us in that situation.
“Secret Service is totally accountable for Butler,” he continued. “Butler was an operational failure and we are focused today on ensuring that it never happens again.”