Members of the FBI and Secret Service will appear before senators on Tuesday to answer questions about the attempted assassination of ex-President Donald Trump.
The joint hearing before the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security & Government Affairs committees will examine events that transpired at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania earlier this month.
Lawmakers prepare to hear from Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate on the security lapses that allowed Trump to nearly be killed. They will also be grilled on how 20-year-old Thomas Mathew Crooks was able to climb onto a rooftop just 164 feet from Trump and discharge several shots in his direction.
Abbate will also provide an update on the FBI investigation into the attack that wounded Trump, two rally attendees, and left 50-year-old Corey Comperatore dead.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), will zero in on the security breakdowns surrounding it.
“Despite the implementation of a security plan to secure the rally site on July 13, the shooter involved was able to fly a drone outside of the security perimeter for 11 minutes,” Durbin said. “His suspicious activity was reported twice, and he was spotted on the roof of a building prior to taking his first shot — yet his violent plan continued unimpeded, and he was able to fire eight shots before a Secret Service countersniper killed him.”
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) recently obtained text messages which showed Crooks was first reported as suspicious by police dispatch prior to opening fire.
Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), who serves on the Homeland Security committee, told The Daily Wire that border-age breaches occurred because Secret Service agents were not operating in tandem with local law enforcement.
“Time and time again, we see three letter agencies and their bureaucratic processes and political biases fail our communities. This is a top-down systemic failure and culture that’s plaguing these agencies and must be addressed,” Marshall said.
Both the House and Senate have launched investigations into the attack. House leaders announced a task force was being formed to conduct an investigation on Monday. Kimberly Cheatle has since resigned as head of the Secret Service following tough questioning by House lawmakers on the security breakdown preceding that rally.