WASHINGTON — The United States Secret Service’s counter sniper unit operated at nearly three-quarters below its required staffing level for four years, according to a Department of Homeland Security Inspector General review that stemmed from the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

The DHS auditor launched the review after a Secret Service sniper killed a gunman who opened fire from a rooftop at Trump’s July 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year old local man, fired eight rounds into the crowd, killing firefighter Corey Comperatore and injuring two others before he was shot dead. Trump, then the presumptive Republican nominee, was grazed in the ear.

The inspector general’s office didn’t examine the actions of the counter sniper who fired that day bec

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