Secret Service official overseeing protections is set to retire just months after Trump’s assassination attempt

A high-ranking Secret Service official with more than 26 years of federal law experience will retire from the agency, months after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life.

Michael Plati, the Assistant Director of the Office of Protective Operations, is a member of the Senior Executive Service. He leads operational divisions that reduce risks at protected events or to protectees. That includes leading the teams in charge ofplanning for the protection of Trump, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and more.

Plati had been considering retiring from his position in the agency for months. He will officially retire later this week on his 27th work anniversary, Greg Henning, a spokesman for Plati told The Independent.

“Mike has been discussing this with his family for more than a year,” Henning said. “He approached Acting [Secret Service] Director [Ronald Rowe] about his retirement last month, before the Democratic National Convention.”

The timing of his retirement, in concurrence with theJuly 13 shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania is coincidental.

Preliminary investigations into the shooting have suggested that the Secret Service failed to take precautions before the former president appeared on stage at his rally. As a result, a gunman opened fire, killing one rallygoer and injuring others, including the former president.

The agency and its leaders have been under intense scrutiny since the shooting. Amid calls to step down, the formerSecret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned.

But Henning, as well as a spokesperson for the Secret Service, said Plati’s decision to retire was unrelated to the fallout from the shooting.

“Assistant Director Plati was not asked to resign or retire by