USSS assistant director encouraged to retire over Butler assassination attempt on Trump, source reveals

A high-ranking leader within the United States Secret Service (USSS) has been encouraged to retire nearly two months after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, a source involved at the highest levels of the internal investigation told Fox News.

The official, Assistant Director Michael Plati of the agency’s Office of Protective Operations, led the section in control of planning for protection of Trump, President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. JD Vance and others, and is ending his tenure there this Friday, his 27th anniversary at the agency.

The Secret Service responded in a statement Tuesday that Plati ‘was not asked to resign or retire by anyone. This was a personal decision that he has made and we thank him for his 27 years of dedicated service to the federal government.’ Still, others involved in the investigation have not disputed the underlying narrative that he was encouraged to resign following the July 13 security failure in Butler that has sent shock waves through all levels of the agency.

The USSS is preparing to brief Congress in the coming days about lessons learned from the attempt on Trump’s life.

The Secret Service added that it ‘respects the role of oversight. We have and will continue to make employees available for transcribed interviews and to date we’ve provided over 2,400 pages of responsive documentation to Congress. These efforts will continue as our desire to learn from this failure and ensure that it never happens again is unwavering.’

Plati gave over a month’s notice to make time for a transition. Fox News is told it will come out in the days and weeks ahead when Congress is briefed that the retirement is indeed related to the shooting investigation, but his spokesman said that it was planned and that the timing was coincidental. 

‘Mike has been discussing this for more than a year. He’s retiring on the date of his 27-year anniversary working for the Secret Service. He approached Acting Director [Ronald] Rowe about his retirement last month, before the DNC. He wasn’t asked to retire or resign, and anyone saying otherwise is lying,’ said Greg Henning, the spokesman for Plati.

An agent who asked to remain anonymous was not happy about Plati’s retirement. ‘Mike Plati is known for his integrity and honesty, qualities that are especially commendable at his level of leadership within the Secret Service,’ the agent told Fox News.

USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned under mounting pressure on July 23 following the assassination attempt on the former president, Fox News confirmed. 

The Department of Defense (DOD) has since offered the USSS ‘additional assistance’ in protecting political figures that require personal security.

Anthony Guglielmi, U.S. Secret Service chief of communications, announced last month that the DOD will provide ‘additional assistance including logistics, transportation, and communications, through the 2024 campaign season.’