The head of the Secret Service has agreed to testify before Congress in one of multiple probes, as the agency comes under scrutiny for failing to prevent the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump over the weekend.
House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) announced that the panel will hear directly from Director Kimberly Cheatle next Monday about the security lapses and what the Secret Service can do to prevent a similar tragedy in the future.
“We are grateful to the brave Secret Service agents who acted quickly to protect President Trump after shots were fired and the American patriots who sought to help victims, but questions remain about how a rooftop within proximity to President Trump was left unsecure,” Comer said in a statement. “Americans demand answers from Director Kimberly Cheatle about these security lapses and how we can prevent this from happening again.”
Earlier Monday, Cheatle said the Secret Service will comply with “the appropriate Congressional committees on any oversight action” in addition to conducting its own independent review ordered by President Joe Biden. The agency is also working together with federal, state, and local authorities “to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again,” she said in her first statement since Saturday’s shooting.
While they successfully escorted Trump to safety after a bullet grazed his right ear, the Secret Service failed to prevent the shooter from gaining access to a roof with a clear line of sight to the president just 150 yards from the stage he was speaking on. Multiple congressional committees have launched investigations into the matter.
Hours after the incident that left the former president wounded and one spectator dead, Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) said the House will conduct a “full investigation of the tragic events.” His announcement was quickly followed by a letter from Comer, who invited Cheatle to testify at the public hearing on July 22 when Congress returns from recess.
Secret Service officials are scheduled to brief House Oversight members in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, Politico reported.
House Homeland Security Committee chairman Mark Green (R., Tenn.), House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Turner (R., Ohio), and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chairman Gary Peters (D., Mich.) are leading their own investigations. Green and Peters plan on seeking security details from Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose department oversees Secret Service, while Turner intends to focus on the FBI angle.
The FBI is currently leading the criminal investigation into the shooter who tried to assassinate Trump. The suspect was identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa.; he was immediately shot by a Secret Service sniper. His motive remains unknown.
Security presence at the Republican National Convention has been “reviewed and strengthened,” as Cheatle said, two days after the failed assassination attempt.
“Secret Service will continuously adapt our operations as necessary in order to ensure the highest level of safety and security for convention attendees, volunteers and the City of Milwaukee,” Cheatle said, adding that her agency “implemented changes to his security detail since Saturday to ensure his continued protection for the convention and the remainder of the campaign.”
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Sunday that Trump’s security detail had recently been expanded in anticipation of the RNC, rejecting reports that Trump’s campaign had requested additional resources from the Biden administration and been denied.
“There’s an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed,” Guglielmi wrote on social media. “This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo.”
Law-enforcement officials have found no credible threat to Trump at the convention. Nonetheless, they remain on high alert as the RNC kicks off Monday. Set to be nominated as the Republican presidential nominee this week, Trump will rewrite his Thursday speech to focus more on national unity than Biden’s policies.