Lawmakers to press new Secret Service chief for answers about Trump shooting

The security failures surrounding the assassination attempt against former President Trump are set to come under increased scrutiny by senators Tuesday, when they convene for a joint hearing in the hopes of finding answers that have thus far eluded frustrated lawmakers. 

Ronald Rowe, the new acting director of the Secret Service, and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate are set to appear before the Senate Judiciary and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees. The Secret Service was responsible for protecting Trump at the July 13 rally when the shooting occurred, while the FBI is leading the investigation into what went wrong.

Senators on both sides of the aisle said they would press for new information on what Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of both panels, labeled a “litany of gaps and failures.”

“There are monumental, critical questions that so far the leadership in these agencies have failed to answer [or] even to begin to respond to,” Blumenthal said.

Among those, according to Blumenthal: the motive of the shooter, how he had access to the building and roof he shot from, the failure to stop him after authorities were alerted that he was carrying suspicious equipment and why the roof was not occupied by the Secret Service. 

“It’s the systematic failure,” he said.

The hearing comes on the heels of the disastrous appearance last week by former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, where she frustrated lawmakers, including Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the panel’s top Democrat, for failing “to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure.”

She resigned the following day.

FBI Director Christopher Wray was more forthcoming when he appeared before the House Judiciary Committee last week, but lawmakers are still hoping for more information from Rowe, who briefed senators last week ahead of Tuesday’s joint hearing. 

“Facts, the truth, some responsibility from those who were in charge,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who sits on both committees, told The Hill about what he hopes to hear. “This is an incredible security failure … We need some straight answers tomorrow.”

Hawley added that the message members sent Rowe during the Thursday briefing was a blunt one. 

“You’d better be forthcoming on Tuesday,” Hawley said, adding that if Rowe deflects answers, “it’s going to be very unpleasant for him.” 

Some Republicans downplayed the hopes that there would be any revelations Tuesday.

“Maybe something will come of it,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a Judiciary Committee member. “I’m just not real optimistic there will be a lot of new information.”

But Blumenthal, who chairs the Homeland Security panel’s Subcommittee on Investigations, expressed confidence in Rowe, especially in the wake of Cheatle’s departure.

“I have about eight zillion times as much confidence in him as I do in his predecessor,” Blumenthal said, adding that he has “a lot of hope and optimism” that Rowe wants to “get the truth.”

“I think he knows his agency is on the line and that whatever the failures, exposing them and correcting them is the only way, the only path that will vindicate, ultimately, his agency,” he continued.

The hearing is expected to only be the start of investigations by the subcommittee, led by Blumenthal and Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.), the top Republican on the panel. 

Lawmakers are also hoping to glean what changes the Secret Service and other agencies plan to make in the wake of the shooting. Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that he is wondering what it means for next month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 

Durbin noted the logistical situation, as many events during the day will take place at McCormick Place, a convention center located on the city’s lakefront, before top party brass, lawmakers and delegates travel to the United Center, which is located west of the Loop. 

“What steps are they going to take?” Durbin said. “Have they mapped out steps they’re going to take to protect the transit of all these people between these two venues?”