Inexperienced Secret Service agent stuck on hotline during Trump’s shooting, investigation finds

In addition to the inexperienced drone pilot whose equipment malfunctioned, investigators questioned a Secret Service sniper who observed officers running toward the building where the gunman was lurking with guns drawn but failing to warn Trump to leave the stage.

The communication between the security officers is a “multi-level game of Chinese whispers,” said Peters.

The report also found that there was no clear chain of command between the Secret Service and other security agencies, nor a plan for monitoring the building. Officials operated on multiple, separate radio channels, resulting in lost communications.

The committee found that about two minutes before the gunman opened fire, the Secret Service was notified of a person on the roof of the building, less than 450 feet (137 meters) from where the former president was speaking.

About 22 seconds before Crooks fired, a local official radioed a warning that an armed person was in the building, the report said. But that information was not passed on to key Secret Service officials interviewed by Senate investigators.

The Senate report comes just days after the Secret Service released a five-page document summarizing the key findings of an internal investigation into the errors identified.