NEW FALLOUT: High-Ranking USSS Official “Asked To Retire Early” by Senior Leadership?

(NOTE: The following story — as originally reported by media outlets, including Fox News, and shared across social media platforms — is actively being disputed by the U.S. Secret Service leadership, including Acting Director Rowe.  The information available and reporting by news outlets has been constantly changing up to the time of this writing; which will be clarified and updated as appropriate.)

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About the same time as Melania Trump uploaded her shocking video, (see our report from this morning!) openly stating there was more to the story than has come to light surrounding the near-assassination of her husband — the news was dropping of another Secret Service shakeup.

Michael Plati has served in the ranks of the U.S. Secret Service for 27 years, but has now been asked to “retire”, according to Fox News.  Those reports connecting Plati’s retirement to the assassination attempt were initially shared across social media platforms and reported without dispute:

🚨Just In: U.S. Secret Service Assistant director Michael Plati, has been asked to retire and is ending his tenure with the service in the coming days, in response to the Trump shooting in Pennsylvania. pic.twitter.com/I8g2IOQVZg

— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) September 10, 2024

Here is what Fox News is currently running on this story, as of the time of this writing:

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.

That initial reporting went without dispute for some time today, and right up until the moment of this writing — there was no dispute.  In fact, Fox News is still reporting the following in that same story:

…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.

That said, the Secret Service leadership issued a statement today refuting that the retirement of Assistant Director Plati of the Office of Protective Operations was in any way related to the ongoing investigation into the assassination attempt on President Trump, now addressed in that same Fox News story:

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.

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.

Still, Fox News is maintaining that sources are countering that narrative and indicating that Plati’s retirement was — as originally reported, with alleged “confirmation” by Fox News — a direct result of pressure from senior leadership:

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.

At the moment, it seems possible to me that Fox News ran with the story in good faith based on the sources it had at the time, but is now receiving pushback — and whether that pushback proves to be accurate, or whether the entirety of the original story holds up under scrutiny remains to be be seen.

CNN, late to the game on this story, has now (hours after the original reporting and subsequent pushback from the Secret Service) published a story on Plati’s retirement, echoing the pushback in the subsequent Secret Service statement refuting the original Fox News reporting:

A Secret Service spokesperson said it was Plati’s “personal decision” and denied a media report that he had been asked to retire by senior leadership at the agency.

“Assistant Director Plati was not asked to resign or retire by anyone,” the spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. “This was a personal decision that he has made, and we thank him for his 27 years of dedicated service to the federal government.”

News of Plati’s departure comes as the agency faces increased scrutiny and a ramped-up campaign schedule in the lead-up to the 2024 election.

Earlier reporting from Fox News actually stated that the link between Plati’s “retirement” and the assassination attempt was “confirmed by senior leadership, including Acting Director Ronald Rowe” — but that earlier reporting has since been removed from the initial Fox News story, as confirmed by News Nation Now reporting:

Although Fox initially said Plati was asked to retire by senior leadership, including Rowe, a Secret Service spokesperson denied this in a statement to NewsNation.

Fox News reported Tuesday that the decision is linked to security failures during the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. When asked about this, though, Greg Henning, Plati’s spokesperson, said the timing is “coincidental” and that Plati approached acting director Ronald Rowe about his retirement before the DNC last month.

In the sense that this news is still unfolding and contradictory in nature, it should be treated as “Breaking News” and prone to clarification.  Updates will follow as this story is clarified.

And I suspect that as the situation is sorted out, possibly under the auspices of a much more truth-oriented administration in the White House, ultimately the truth will come out about who knew what, who failed at their job, and whether or not there were individuals involved who intentionally left President Trump vulnerable to known dangers.