Ladies and gentlemen, let’s dive into a fiery topic that’s making waves in Washington. Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino, now a prominent conservative commentator, recently took center stage during a congressional hearing, and he didn’t hold back. He had some pretty harsh words for his former agency, accusing its leadership of putting the lives of presidents and presidential candidates at risk by failing to update their technology and practices.
This hearing was called by a bipartisan committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. They’re looking into a frightening incident—a July 13th assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
A 20-year-old gunman managed to position himself on a rooftop, dangerously close to where Trump was speaking. Now, investigations by lawmakers and the FBI have uncovered some troubling shortcomings within the Secret Service, and Bongino was there to make sure they were heard loud and clear.
Bongino didn’t mince words during his five-minute testimony. He slammed the Secret Service for relying on outdated technology, saying, “The joke in the Secret Service, which is sadly no longer funny… is they rely on yesterday’s technology tomorrow.” He went on to criticize everything from the agency’s outdated computer systems to their delayed implementation of basic security measures like slings. In his words, the state of the agency’s equipment was nothing short of “embarrassing.”
One of the most glaring issues, according to Bongino, was the absence of a drone at the rally—something he pointed out could have been bought for under $40 online. “Now you’re seeing what happens when you don’t have a drone up at a site,” he quipped, highlighting a major gap in the agency’s surveillance capabilities.
Robert Rowe, the acting director of the Secret Service, defended the agency by pointing out that they are expected to do “more with less.” But Bongino wasn’t buying it. He fired back, “There isn’t more with less, there is less with less,” criticizing the agency for its ballooning budget, which has grown from $2.34 billion in 2014 to $3.62 billion in 2024.
Despite the increased funding, Bongino argued that the agency is producing less and failing to keep up with modern threats. He was especially critical of how a 20-year-old gunman outsmarted the agency, saying, “A 20-year-old criminal outsmarted them on a drone technology piece of device. You’re telling me that’s more with less? That’s disgusting.”
Bongino also touched on another crucial issue: the prioritization of the agents’ missions. He argued that the agency’s talented agents should be focusing on protecting the president rather than getting sidetracked with smaller tasks, like chasing down counterfeit money. In his view, these misplaced priorities could lead to devastating consequences.
As a former New York police officer and Secret Service agent who served from 1999 to 2011, Bongino’s criticisms carry weight. Since leaving the agency, he’s become a prominent voice in conservative media, often tackling issues related to federal security. And when it came to this assassination attempt, Bongino didn’t hold back in questioning how the Secret Service could have missed such an obvious threat.