Secret Service puts ‘multiple’ agents on leave over Trump assassination attempt investigation

The US Secret Service has reportedly placed multiple agents on leave, including the agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office, in the aftermath of an assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

Their leaves comes as the agency’s internal affairs division continues to investigate how a 20-year-old gunman armed with an AR-15-style rifle was able to fire at the former president during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, grazing his ear and killing one attendee and injuring two others.

“Five or six” agents have been placed on leave as “disciplinary action,” according to MSNBC.

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi declined to comment to CBS News about personnel, but told the outlet that the agency’s “mission assurance review is progressing, and we are examining the processes, procedures and factors that led to this operational failure.”

The agency “holds our personnel to the highest professional standards, and any identified and substantiated violations of policy will be investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility for potential disciplinary action,” he added.

In his testimony to members of Congress last month, Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe — who replaced Kimberly Cheatle after she stepped down following growing calls from lawmakers for her resignation — admitted that the agency had failed “on multiple levels.”

“That roofline should’ve been covered,” he said. “We should’ve had more eyes on that.”

He said that “in no way should any state or local agency” that supported Secret Service agents in Butler, Pennsylvania, should “be held responsible for a Secret Service failure.”

During a briefing on August 2, when asked whether any Secret Service members have been suspended or fired,