Local law enforcement officials from Pennsylvania told a House panel Thursday that they got little guidance on security at the rally site where former President Donald Trump was shot in July—and a former Secret Service agent said the lack of planning was highly unusual.

Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., opened the first hearing of the House Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump by blaming the Secret Service for an “entirely preventable” tragedy at the campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Kelly said the task force’s investigation identified three key factors to the security failures that could have left Trump dead rather than clipped by a bullet in the right ear.

“First, Secret Service planning, or perhaps more accurately, their failure to adequately plan, created confusion among the agency’s law enforcement partners,” Kelly said.

“Secondly, the Secret Service did not close down public access or manage access to the grounds next to the rally’s site that were less than 150 yards from the stage where former President Trump spoke,” the Pennsylvania Republican said.

“Third, the security communication and command structure were not cohesive,” Kelly said. “It did not allow for rapid decision making. Information in a moment of crisis went through radio communications, text messages, and phone calls way too slowly. Secondhand reports were passed in a manner resembling the old children’s game ‘Telephone.’”

The House task force on the Trump assassination attempt held the hearing a day after the Senate Homeland Security Committee released a report that criticized the Secret Service for having had multiple chances to prevent the shooting while asserting the agency should have more funding and........

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