Congressional hearing set for probing attempted assassination of Trump
The Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing will happen July 22.
The Committee on Oversight and Accountability will be holding a hearing investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
Trump was officially named the presidential candidate of the Republican Party on July 15 during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Committee announced the hearing in a post on X on the evening following the assassination attempt on Trump by Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
“Chair Comer has invited U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify at a hearing on Monday, July 22, “ the GOP Oversight account’s post stated. “Americans demand answers about the assassination attempt of President Trump.”
The hearing will take place at 10 am on July 22 and can be watched live on YouTube.
The Committee has also demanded communications and documents from the Secret Service to be turned over by July 18.
The letter to Cheatle asking her to appear can be found here.
The Committee has also issued a subpoena for Cheatle to testify after she failed to personally respond to not one, but two letters from the Committee. Here is an excerpt from the letter announcing the subpoena:
Initially, the Secret Service committed to your attendance. Subsequently, however, DHS officials appear to have intervened and your attendance is now in question. In addition, since DHS’s intervention, there have been no meaningful updates or information shared with the Committee. The lack of transparency and failure to cooperate with the Committee on this pressing matter by both DHS and the Secret Service further calls into question your ability to lead the Secret Service and necessitates the attached subpoena compelling your appearance before the Oversight Committee.
Cheatle, who is facing mounting calls to resign, has indicated in media interviews that she and her agency will “participate fully” in the hearing. She has refused so far, claiming to take responsibility by saying “the buck stops with me” in an interview with ABC News on Monday, July 15.
“The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary,” Cheatle said. “It was unacceptable and it’s something that shouldn’t happen again.”
In the same ABC interview, Cheatle also said an agent was not placed on the roof where the Crooks took up position to shoot the former president because it was “sloped.”
“That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof,” she said. “And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside.”
Yes, the building was confirmed to be secured from the inside with at least three “counter-snipers.” And inside the building they all stayed, apparently.
So who is Cheatle and how did she land the top Secret Service spot?
Biden picked Cheatle for the post in 2022, using her first name in a personal way in his announcement.
"Kim has had a long and distinguished career at the Secret Service, having risen through the ranks during her 27 years with the agency, becoming the first woman in the role of Assistant Director of protective operations," Biden said in the announcement of Cheatle as his pick.
Prior to being tapped by Biden for the director spot, she had been a senior director of global security at PepsiCo for around three years.
Part of Cheatle’s experience with the Secret Service was serving on Biden’s detail when he was the vice president. The NY Post reported that Cheatle got the job at the urging of Jill Biden. It was reported by multiple outlets Cheatle and the Bidens are close.
Cheatle’s focus on “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) practices as well as her goal on females making up 30% of the Secret Service’s agents by the year 2030 have been highlighted by some on social media.
Failed Mission
“The United States Secret Service has a no-fail mission, yet it failed on Saturday when a madman attempted to assassinate President Trump, killed an innocent victim, and harmed others,” said Committee Chairman Comer said in the hearing announcement.
Another way of saying “failed mission” is “fundamental security failure,” which has been a repeated statement by former Secret Service agents and law enforcement officials across the spectrum since the assassination attempt occurred.
“It was a total security breakdown from start to finish,” former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker told the NY Post. “From the total security plan for the rally to the reaction once the shots rang out.
Per the NY Post, Swecker went on to blast some of Trump’s detail, how long it took to get Trump off the stage, and DEI.
“What I was seeing was DEI,” Swecker said of the agents, who included three women. “And I am not anti-woman. I have three daughters and three granddaughters, and they’d make great Secret Service agents.
But the women I saw up there with the president — they looked like they were running in circles. One didn’t know how to holster, the other one didn’t seem to know what to do, and another one seemed not to be able to find her holster. DEI is one thing. Competence and effectiveness is another, and I saw DEI out there.”
Swecker is also cited in a Sky News Australia recap of the security breakdowns and calls for Cheatle to resign.
Watch:
In the wake of the shooting, finger pointing
Secret Service representative Anthony Gugliemi told the NY Times that securing and patrolling the factory grounds and buildings of AGR International Inc. were the responsibility of local law enforcement.
All officials from Butler County are on the record stating the Secret Service was running the show.
A recent report by NBC News citing multiple sources says the Secret Service was aware of the rooftop vulnerability at the Butler rally venue and flagged it as a concern days in advance of the event. Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger told NBC News that there were some shared responsibilities but that the Secret Service was in charge of security outside of the venue.
Additionally, Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told CBS News that the building Crooks used to shoot at Trump wasn't his office's responsibility nor was his office asked to sweep the building for threats.
However, Slupe has said in local media interviews that a county deputy confronted Crooks moments before the shooting but did not engage him. Crooks allegedly turned his weapon on the deputy, who then ducked for cover. The failure to engage the suspect allowed Crooks time to take his shots at Trump.
Late on the evening of July 15, the Secret Service issued a statement denying the agency was blaming local police.
"Any news suggesting the Secret Service is blaming local law enforcement for Saturday's incident is simply not true,” the post on X reads.
The Committee will likely ask about Secret Service resources being redistributed prior to the rally. CBS' Susan Crabtree reported that Secret Service sources told her security was diverted from Trump's rally to First Lady Jill Biden's detail.
Questions on why the sniper teams were not deployed to the roof Crooks took up his position on are more than likely. Additionally expect questions on why Secret Service snipers didn’t automatically shoot the suspect on the roof will likely be asked. Expect Graham v Connor to be brought up, how that case impacted law enforcement use of force rules, and the perception of a “reasonable” threat.
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More To The Story
The FBI released a statement, which has been updated at least once, about the "incident" in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The updated statement names Crooks as the shooter and includes links to FBI Director Christopher Wray's remarks given during a press briefing with Attorney General Merrick Garland and general FBI updates on the case.
The FBI update says the shooting is being investigated as an "assassination attempt and as "potential domestic terrorism."
The statement also said Crook's motives were unknown at the current time, the firearm used had been purchased legally, and Crooks was not known to the FBI as an existing threat. The weapon has since been identified as a DPMS AR-15 5.56 rifle, bought in 2013.
"The shooter may be deceased, but the investigation is very much ongoing. And, because of that, we are limited in what we say at this point," Wray said.
Wray then outlined five areas that "we have committed the full force of the FBI to this investigation," that include both criminal and national security resources, tactical support, evidence response teams to help process the crime scene, victim services specialists, and the FBI Lab and our Operational Technology Division to process the physical evidence recovered.
"The American people can rest assured that we will leave no stone unturned as we work to get to the bottom of what happened yesterday," Wray said near the closing of his brief comments.
The FBI raided Crooks’ home and confiscated a number of items including a laptop and cell phone. Some reports say at least one improvised explosive device was confiscated during searches of Crooks’ car and home.
Even though the FBI is leading an investigation, President Biden claimed on Sunday, July 14 that he will hold an "independent review" of rally security.
“I’ve directed an independent review of the national security at yesterday’s rally to assess exactly what happened and we’ll share the results of that independent review to the American people, as well,” he said.
Biden added, “I urge everyone, everyone please don’t make assumptions about his motive or his affiliations” and to “Let the FBI do their job and their partner agencies do their job.”
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