(The Daily Signal) – There is a “culture of deception” within the Secret Service, says former Congressman Jason Chaffetz.

“What they tell the public is routinely inaccurate, if not outright lies,” said Chaffetz, a Republican who represented Utah’s 3rd congressional district and is now a visiting scholar at the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project.

The former congressman made his remarks during a panel discussion titled “US Intelligence Before, During and After the Assassination of President Trump” at the Heritage Foundation on Monday in Washington, DC.

He said the would-be assassin’s bullet that grazed former President Donald Trump on July 13 nearly changed the trajectory of our country.

“It really made it clear to us that the Secret Service, even though it is the premier law enforcement agency, has a reputation for being impenetrable, which is a serious problem,” said Chaffetz, a regular contributor to Fox News Channel.

He expects an investigation into the Secret Service to result in it receiving an “F” grade in five categories – recruitment, training, workload, communications and technology.

According to Chaffetz, the Secret Service is understaffed, forcing too many people to work overtime.

Increased training is one of the most important changes needed in Secret Service operations, said Tristan Leavitt, president of Empower Oversight, who also spoke on the Heritage Foundation panel.

“And these people go there because they have a passion. They want to serve our country. They are not getting an education,” Leavitt said.

The Secret Service must move to a threat-based protection model, he said, adding that the threats against Trump are high but its protection mandate is only third-rate.

The agency also needs to increase respect for its employees so that no one quits, Leavitt said.

“They leave, and the Secret Service then has to keep retraining new people,” he said, adding that the people he protects should have confidence in the Secret Service, regardless of their political party.

“We need to fix the Secret Service,” Leavitt said. “Changes need to be made so that everyone can have that trust.”

Americans have no reason to trust that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is able to enforce change at the Secret Service, says Susan Crabtree, national political correspondent for RealClearPolitics who has written extensively about the agency and its culture since Trump’s shooting.

“This new leadership needs to come and we can talk about exactly who we think is best suited to do it,” Crabtree said.