Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Tuesday accused the Harris-Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security of “stonewalling” a congressional investigation into the first assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
“I am reaching the point of total outrage, because the response from the Department of Homeland Security has been totally lacking,” the Connecticut Democrat told reporters on Capitol Hill.
“In fact, I think it’s tantamount to stonewalling in many respects,” Blumenthal added.
Blumenthal, the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, argued that DHS has been “almost derelict in its duty by resisting our requests for documents, evidence and information that are necessary to investigate” the July 13 shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pa., which left the former president and two others wounded and one man dead.
The gunman was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper moments after he opened fire.
“The Department of Homeland Security has to be more forthcoming, not only to me, but to the American people, and it has to do it quickly or it will fuel the conspiracy theories that are so dangerous to our democracy, as well as undermining its own credibility,” the senator continued.
Blumenthal indicated that his frustrations with DHS have reached the point where he would support issuing a subpoena to the agency in order to obtain the materials his committee has been requesting.
“I’ll certainly support a subpoena,” he said. “It takes very little drafting to do a subpoena here and even less time.”
“I know how to do subpoenas. I’m ready, willing and able to use the subpoena process if necessary to get information from the Department of Homeland Security,” Blumenthal added.
The Post has reached out to DHS for comment.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the ranking member on the committee investigating the assassination attempt, echoed Blumenthal’s frustrations with DHS.
“They’re holding all their cards close to the vest,” he told reporters Tuesday, adding that the lack of cooperation is “driving suspicion and driving conspiracy theories.”
Last week, Blumenthal teased that “the American people will be shocked, astonished and appalled by what we will report to them about the failures of the Secret Service” at the Butler Trump rally.
He also noted that Americans “ought to be appalled and astonished by the failure of the Department of Homeland Security to be more forthcoming, to be as candid and frank as it should be to them in terms of providing information” as he exited a meeting with acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe.
