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Senators ‘appalled’ by DHS failures, demand answers for lack of info on Trump assassination attempt

senators-‘appalled’-by-dhs-failures,-demand-answers-for-lack-of-info-on-trump-assassination-attempt
Senators ‘appalled’ by DHS failures, demand answers for lack of info on Trump assassination attempt

Senators from both parties said Thursday that they were “appalled” by the security failures that led to the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump July 13 and want more information from the Department of Homeland Security ahead of an expected report on the near-tragedy.

Members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee met with acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe for a closed-door briefing about the shooting in Butler, Pa. that killed Trump rally-goer Corey Comperatore and wounded the 45th president and two others.

“I think the American people will be shocked, astonished and appalled by what we will report to them about the failures of the Secret Service in this assassination attempt of a former president,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who chairs the panel’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

Senator Richard Blumenthal speaks during briefing on August 12, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

“I think the American people will be shocked, astonished and appalled by what we will report to them,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

“But I think they also 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,” he added after exiting the briefing.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the top Republican on the investigatory subcommittee, said members expressed “frustration” with Rowe during the briefing.

“There is a lot that we don’t know yet, and I think there is some frustration that was voiced, I think with Acting Director Rowe,” Johnson told reporters. “He’s making the commitment to provide more information.”

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as multiple shots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 13, 2024.

Secret Service failures led to the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump in July. REUTERS

Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said the sit-down with the Secret Service yielded “a lot of information,” but the panel had “a ways to go” and would release an interim report “shortly.”

“It’s going to identify very specific errors that were made in this,” added committee Ranking Member Rand Paul (R-Ky.). “To me, it’s still inexcusable that a guy for 90 minutes before a rally has a rangefinder and you don’t stop the proceeding.”

Peters, Paul, Johnson and Blumenthal stressed that the probe has been and the report will be entirely bipartisan. Johnson said he expects the preliminary document to be released before Congress breaks for its pre-election recess at the end of this month.

Trump supporters are seen covered with blood in the stands after guns were fired at Republican candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024.

Members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee remain “appalled” and “frustrated” with the lack of answers about the July 13 Trump rally shooting. AFP via Getty Images

The lawmakers also emphasized that there had not been enough accountability within the Secret Service.

Asked whether more people should resign, Blumenthal answered: “Unquestionably and indisputably, there needs to be more accountability. People need to be held responsible.”

“Without accountability, this kind of failure and lapse will happen again because there needs to be that sense that someone is the point person,” he said.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) departs from the Senate Chambers following a cloture vote on the Kids Online Safety Act in the U.S. Capitol Building on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who serves as ranking member of the investigatory subcommittee, said members expressed “frustration” with Rowe during the grilling. Getty Images

Law enforcement flagged would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, as a “suspicious” attendee of the Trump event at the Butler Farm Show grounds more than an hour and a half before he climbed on top of the roof of the AGR International building and took aim at the 45th president on the main stage.

Crooks fired eight rounds, striking Trump, 78, in the right ear, killing Comperatore, and critically injuring David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74. A Secret Service counter-sniper fired a ninth bullet that felled Crooks.

Everything we know about the Trump assassination attempt

A full breakdown of the shooting Saturday. Crooks’ car was reportedly found nearby with explosives inside.

Since then, Secret Service whistleblowers, congressional hearings and committee inquiries have revealed security lapses that allowed Crooks to begin shooting at the former president with a clear line of sight just 130 yards away.

Agents on the ground got the message that Crooks was a “threat” just 10 minutes before Trump began speaking — but failed to act.

Sen Gary Peters, D-Mich., speaking during the Democratic National Convention Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in Chicago.

Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said the sit-down with the Secret Service gave them “a lot of information,” but the panel had “a ways to go.” AP

“At 6:08 [p.m.], man on a roof, should’ve stopped him,” Paul recounted to reporters after the briefing. “They say the walkie-talkies didn’t communicate with each other. Someone should’ve been yelling from the rooftops.”

“That information was radioed to the security tent, the Security Command and Control, about 6:10 [p.m.], there’s still a few seconds left,” he said.

“I have a great deal of respect for law enforcement,” Paul added. “I mean, it’s a tough job, and people do make mistakes, but I think the people in charge of security that day shouldn’t be doing it again.”

Sen. Rand Paul speaks at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA. on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.

“I have a great deal of respect for law enforcement,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said. “But I think the people in charge of security that day shouldn’t be doing it again.” MediaNews Group via Getty Images

Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) told Fox News’ “The Story” Thursday afternoon that Trump’s life was jeopardized by a “complete breakdown in communication.”

“Different entities were seeing the shooter, were seeing them with the rangefinder, were seeing someone on the roof that people were calling in to local law enforcement. That wasn’t relayed over the common radio [network],” he told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum.

“A lot of people are asking, ‘Why was President Trump allowed to go on with this suspicious activity?’ Well, the shift lead, his core protective detail, didn’t know – it wasn’t relayed to him,” Waltz added. “What was being relayed was kind of point-to-point over text message, over phone, and they didn’t follow the protocols of get it out there … [that] ‘We have someone suspicious in this area, everyone be aware.’”

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Authorities later found explosives in Crooks’ car parked at the rally site and a remote transmitter on his dead body, but neither the Secret Service nor the FBI has been able to determine the shooter’s motive.

“The failure of the Department of Homeland Security to be more forthcoming fuels the conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact,” Blumenthal said.

FBI Pittsburgh Field Office Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek told reporters last month that Crooks “conducted more than 60 searches related to President Biden and former President Trump” as part of “extensive attack planning” — and even searched for information about the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with what appears to be blood on his face surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024.

Crooks fired eight rounds, striking Trump, 78, in the right ear, killing rallygoer Corey Comperatore, and critically injuring David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74. AFP via Getty Images

“We have not uncovered any credible evidence indicating the subject conspired with anyone else,” Rojek also said, and rejected any speculation about a second shooter.

Crooks posted on Discord and may have also done so on the alt-right social media platform Gab, according to its CEO Andrew Torba, who alleged that the shooter had spread messages “in support of President Biden.”

The FBI disclosed that in addition to searches online — which included asking for details about the distance between assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and President John F. Kennedy — Crooks maintained overseas encrypted messaging accounts.

In addition to the Senate Homeland Committee, the FBI and DHS, a House select task force and the DHS Office of the Inspector General are investigating aspects of the shooting.

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