Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe in a joint congressional hearing Tuesday admitted he was “ashamed” of security lapses that kept agents in the dark about the shooter and nearly led to the assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Rowe, who was elevated to the position last week following the former Director Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation, said the July 13 shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania was “a failure on multiple levels” during testimony before the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees.

“Based on what I know right now, neither the Secret Service counter-sniper teams nor members of the former president’s security detail had any knowledge that there was a man on the roof of the AGR building with a firearm,” Rowe revealed.

“It is my understanding those personnel were not aware the assailant had a firearm until they heard gunshots,” he said. “Prior to that, they were operating with the knowledge that local law enforcement was working an issue of a suspicious individual prior to the shots being fired.”

He added that he has since visited the scene of the shooting at Butler Farm Show grounds, where he “identified gaps in our security” and instituted “corrective actions” to prevent another shooter like Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, from opening fire at Trump or any Secret Service protectee.

“I laid in a prone position to evaluate his line of sight,” Rowe told members of both committees in his opening remarks. “What I saw made me ashamed.”

“As a career law enforcement officer, and a 25-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured,” he confessed.

The Secret Service command post was informed of the “suspicious” person about 25 minutes ahead of the shooting – but “lost sight” of him between 6:02 and 6:08 p.m., FBI deputy director Paul Abbate also told committee members.

Within that crucial timeframe, Crooks clambered on top of the AGR International Inc. building at 6:06 p.m.

At 6:11 p.m., a police officer from Butler County climbed onto the manufacturing building, saw Crooks and “radioed” that he was armed with “a long gun.”

Thirty seconds later, Crooks began shooting.

Though a Secret Service counter sniper killed him within seconds, Crooks was still able to fire eight shots, striking Trump in the right ear, killing rallygoer Corey Comperatore and wounding two others, David Dutch and James Copenhaver.

In a series of document dumps, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) produced video footage, photos and text messages chronicling the breakdown of communications between local law enforcement and the Secret Service.

“Kid [lurking] around the building we are in,” one of the local counter snipers texted his colleagues at 5:38 p.m, sharing photos of Crooks.

“I did see him with a range finder looking towards stage. FYI. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out. I lost sight of him,” the sniper added.

“Call it in to command and have a uniform check it out,” one replied in the text chain.

Rowe acknowledged “cell phone issues” and “radio issues” may have played a role, as well.

Even with the radio issues, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told reporters at a press conference after the hearing that “26 minutes beforehand, a Secret Service sniper knew there was a person of suspicion — they had a picture of him.”

“At 5:45 [p.m.], a Secret Service sniper did receive a text with a picture of Crooks, of the assassin, and his location,” Johnson said, citing discussions his congressional staff had with local law enforcement since the shooting.

Asked by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) how Trump was allowed to take the main stage even after Crooks was flagged as “suspicious,” Rowe said the Secret Service “made an assumption there was going to be uniform presence out there, that there would be sufficient eyes to cover that, that there was going to be counter-sniper teams in the AGR building.” 

“I can assure you, we’re not going to make that mistake again,” he vowed. “When our counter snipers are up, their counter snipers are up and they’re on the roof as well.”

When asked, Rowe did not deny reports that local counter snipers abandoned their post on the roof because it was “too hot.”

“There were 10 buildings within 500 yards of the president that all had a direct line of sight for a possible sniper,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said in the post-hearing press conference, denouncing the “gross disregard of standard operating procedures.”

The testimony comes as the Secret Services faces multiple reviews of the shooting and deals with internal strife in the aftermath of the near-assassination, including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.

On Monday night, a Secret Service counter-sniper gave a stark warning that the agency “SHOULD expect another assassination attempt” in an email to the agency’s Uniformed Division, a source confirmed to The Post. 

The counter-sniper also asserted that agency’s motto is apparently “CYA” following the security breach.

The unnamed agent also demanded the firing of four more “high-level supervisors” after Cheatle’s resignation, proclaiming that the “agency NEEDS to change” before “the NEXT assassination,” according to the email, which was first reported by RealClearPolitics.

“Sadly we have fallen short for YEARS,” the counter sniper wrote. “We just look good doing it. I have conveyed these thoughts to not only supervisors … Only to be brushed off as those with less experience somehow knew more than me.” 

During a heated line of questioning from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Rowe refused to name the lead site agent who handled security preparations but said the officer still worked for the Secret Service.

“I acknowledge this was a failure. This could have been our Texas School Book Depository,” the acting director lamented, comparing the near-assassination to the tragic killing of President John F. Kennedy. “I have lost sleep over that for the last 17 days.”

“Then fire somebody!” Hawley shouted.

“I will tell you, Senator, that I will not rush to judgment, that people will be held accountable, and I will do so with integrity,” Rowe shot back.

The acting director also claimed his agency was being “unfairly persecuted” — despite failing to fully update lawmakers or the public about the details of the shooting for more than two weeks.

During the press conference after Rowe’s testimony, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) joked that references to the “sloped roof” of the factory building at the Butler Farm Show site were “noticeably absent.” Before she stepped down, Cheatle had initially mentioned the slope as a reason why Secret Service counter-snipers were not posted on the roof.

“I don’t understand exactly what role that played in their initial pronouncements after this attack,” Lee said of Cheatle’s ABC interview. “Maybe they got roofied or otherwise convinced to adopt the famed sloped-roof defense. But that was absurd.”

After the hearing, Marshall also called for a 9/11 Commission-style initiative to engage in a “non-political” investigation of the crime scene itself — as well as for President Biden to appoint a crisis leadership team to overhaul the Secret Service.

Cheatle resigned last Tuesday following her disastrous testimony before the House Oversight Committee, in which she affirmed the security failures that led to the near-assassination — but still gave Secret Service agents an “A” grade for their response.

Abbate further revealed during his testimony that the bureau had unearthed a social media account — potentially tied to Crooks — that posted at least 700 comments online in 2019 and 2020 that featured “antisemitic” ideas and embraced “political violence.”

“Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes, to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature,” the FBI deputy director said.

Abbate also testified that a bullet struck Trump in the right ear — nearly one week after FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress the former president could have been hit by “a bullet or shrapnel.”