Trump was shot at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. One spectator, Corey Comperatore, was killed in the assassination attempt and two others were seriously injured.
Tuesday’s hearing is the first time a member of the Secret Service will appear before Congress since former chief Kimberly Cheatle resigned earlier this month following her testimony in the House of Representatives.
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Attorney General Merrick Garland (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)
United States Attorney General Merrick Garland called the attack on former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 “egregious,” adding that it was a “major security failure. “
“Look, this attack on the former president is an egregious attack on former President Trump, but also an egregious attack on democracy itself,” the attorney general said. “It’s a primary protection failure. “
He also asked how alarming it was that a 20-year-old gunman could obviously shoot Trump from about 150 yards away.
“It’s incredibly alarming. That’s why we want to find out what happened here, why it happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Garland said.
The attorney general then asked about the Iranian risk, taking issue with Trump and other top officials.
Drone footage shows lawmakers climbing on top of the AGR building Thomas Crooks fired from July 13. (Fox News Digital)
Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate appeared for a joint hearing with the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees. It was the first time a member of the Secret Service had appeared before Congress since former leader Kimberly Cheatle resigned earlier this month.
Rowe testified that officials didn’t know there was a guy on the roof of the AGR building the demonstration until it was too late. She also admitted that responsibility for the security failure at the former president’s rally ultimately lies with the Secret Service.
They seem to blame local snipers positioned inside the AGR building during the demonstration.
Read what local people had to say about Rowe’s testimony.
The president of the National Fraternal Order of Police on Tuesday criticized acting United States Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, Jr. , after he failed to provide answers about the attempted assassination of former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. on July 13, pointing the finger at the local police.
The group’s president, Patrick Yoes, issued a statement after Rowe testified about the investigation before federal lawmakers.
Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr. testifies before the Senate on July 30, 2024. (Photo via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Ronald Rowe, acting director of the United States Secret Service. Jr. said Tuesday that information about a gunman atop a roof was never relayed to officials offering protection to former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 when a gunman opened fire, nearly killing him.
“We are faced with a scenario where, at a minimum, other people knew this guy had a gun at least two minutes before the shooting. I need to know what you can tell me about what happened in the last two minutes, where “A group of other people in the crowd saw him and yelled, ‘They gave him a gun,'” Lee told Rowe. “What happened that time and why the hell didn’t they take President Trump out of the picture at that time?”?
“No information regarding a gun on the roof was ever conveyed to our staff,” Rowe said.
Lee asked about the communication channel between law enforcement and Secret Service agents.
“Senator, this data remained on state and local channels and was not transmitted to the Secret Service,” Rowe said.
“Sir, I think they were dealing with a very critical scenario, and if I’m not mistaken, they explained it over the radio,” Rowe said. “However, this never happened to us. “
Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said Tuesday he was disappointed that critical data was not available two weeks after a gunman tried to assassinate former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Johnson joined Fox News’ “America Reports” Tuesday afternoon and said he would “love to have agents on the ground” after learning about communications disruptions between the Secret Service and local law enforcement.
Ronald Rowe, acting director of the United States Secret Service. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc Getty Images)
Cruz pressed Rowe for a hearing on the attempted assassination of Trump, asking him about key security points and whether Trump’s key points required more resources, which was denied by Secret Service leadership.
Throughout the questioning, Cruz asked how many officers were protecting Trump at the rally and how that compared to the security provided to President Biden or the first lady, to which Rowe was unable to provide an answer. Solid, though he said Biden was getting more security because of things like nuclear codes.
Cruz also asked about Trump’s main security points that have asked for more resources and reported that the resources have been shot down.
Rowe said Cruz’s Secret Service agents are politicians.
Still, Cruz pressed and Rowe refused to respond.
“Okay, you refuse to answer my question,” Cruz said, adding that the events of the day of the assassination attempt were catastrophic.
Donald Trump, his face bloodied, is surrounded by Secret Service agents as he leaves the level in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP Getty Images)
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. , told reporters Tuesday that it will take more than paying additional money to the Secret Service to get the resources needed for a president.
Marshall spoke after a hearing on the attempted assassination of former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
He later said officials were doing things and that he didn’t need to be so “arrogant. “
“Obviously, in this situation, President Trump probably needed four or five times as much,” Marshall said. “I would say it would be practically very unlikely to build this specific site for the president. It will take more than just making an investment of money. ” “.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Cruz spoke after a hearing into Trump’s assassination attempt and said former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was fired after security facilities failed.
The senator went on to criticize the Biden administration’s Secret Service.
“Apparently, in Biden’s Secret Service, duty prevents nothing. No one has responsibility,” Cruz said.
Senator Roger Marshall, Republican of Kansas. (Getty Images)
“I ask for two things. One is an independent, non-profit commission charged with reading and investigating the entire crime scene, leaving nothing to chance,” Marshall said. “And secondly, and in fact, I have no more confidence now than I did what I had before today’s hearing, I ask our commander-in-chief to appoint a crisis leadership team to go into the Secret Service, identify that direction, turn things around, and begin to provide good enough coverage to President Trump and others.
Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo. , led the Senate majority in introducing a solution Tuesday that officially condemns the attempted assassination of former President Trump earlier this month at a rally in Pennsylvania.
If approved in the upper chamber, the solution would condemn the attack on Trump, pay tribute to “the victims killed and injured in the demonstration” and call for “unity and civility in United States. “
Barrasso plans to seek approval of the solution either through a mechanism known as a “hotline” that allows for objections, or through unanimous consent of the Senate. It would take a senator’s objection to save one or the other.
Read about Thursday’s hearing.
Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
FBI Assistant Director Paul Abbate revealed Tuesday that federal investigators did not have complete emails sent through former President Trump’s shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
“Some email accounts will be hacked. There are some that we haven’t been able to get data from due to their encrypted nature,” he said.
Abbate’s admission that the FBI does not have all of the information contained in Crooks’ cellphone came after Sen. Lindsey Graham, R. S. C. , a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked about the 20-year-old’s electronic devices that were received through the federal agency.
“So, you’re telling me that the guy who shot the former president 8 times has apps and we can’t use them,” Graham repeated. “Maybe if you could get into it, it would reveal applicable information. “
“That’s right, senator,” Abbate said.
“Senator, as we said, we want a solution that guarantees legal access,” Abbate said.
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this update.
Facebook accounts have incorrectly classified the symbol of former President Trump raising his fist after this month’s assassination as “altered. “(Screenshot X/Fox News)
Trump lashed out at Meta and Google on Tuesday morning following protests from social media users on Monday. Users reported that photographs and records of the murder were censored or marked as digitally altered.
“Facebook just admitted that they wrongly censored Trump’s ‘attempted photo’ and got caught. Same goes for Google,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform. “They have done this pretty much to locate photographs or anything about this heinous act. They are both facing BIG CLAIMS AS A RESULT OF CENSORSHIP CLAIMS. “
And he continued: “Here we go again, attempt to rig the elections!! GO AFTER META AND GOOGLE. LET THEM KNOW THAT WE ARE ALL GOOD TO THEM, THIS TIME IT WILL BE MUCH DIFFICULT. MAGA2024!”
A corporate spokesperson admitted that fact checks had been implemented on the photo and warned that additional “inaccurate responses” to the media would likely arise before a correction was made.
“We know that other people have noticed incomplete, inconsistent, or superseded data on this topic,” a Meta spokesperson said in a blog post about the controversy. “We’re rolling out a fix to provide more up-to-date answers to queries, and it’s imaginable that other people will continue to see wrong answers in the meantime. “
Meta’s director of public affairs, Dani Lever, later explained in X that this was done by mistake because the systems were bound to stumble upon a separate edit of the image.
Timothy Nerozzi of Fox News Digital contributed to this update.
The union of the Senate Judiciary, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees is now complete.
“Other Americans deserve to know what went wrong. And they deserve to be held accountable for those safety lapses,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. , said in his closing remarks.
Hawley gave an impression of disbelief when Rowe indicated that the other people who made perimeter security decisions at former President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania and others involved in the communications breakdown had not yet lost their jobs.
“What else do you want to investigate?” Hawley asked.
Rowe protested that Hawley had asked him to “rush to judgment” without a thorough investigation into what happened.
“I probably wouldn’t be too quick to judge. People are going to be held accountable,” Rowe said.
“Sir, this may have been our Texas school’s e-book repository,” Rowe said. “I’ve been losing sleep over this for the last 17 days, just like you. “
“Then fire someone,” Hawley insisted.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. , asked about the risk posed by foreign actors mentioning Iran, as opposed to former President Trump.
“What is the nature of the Iranian threat?” Blumenthal asked.
Blumenthal then asked acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe if there is an express or imminent risk of opposing Trump on July 13.
“We have no data that there are co-conspirators or internal or external links, including Iran, but we don’t, I need to be clear. We have no evidence of that,” Rowe said. without ruling out anything. “We are all odds and remain open to the idea that the Secret Service had in mind on July 13 that there could be a risk from Iran. ”
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, questioned why former President Trump allowed the level to be taken at his July 13 rally when there were reports of a suspicious person.
Rowe said there was no communication indicating the suspect had a weapon.
“Senator, again, those were suspicions, not weapons, or there was never any communication of this. There’s an individual with a gun, a risk, or other bad intentions,” Rowe said.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. , and Lindsey Graham, R-S. C. , spoke Tuesday to reiterate their calls for more layoffs in the U. S. Secret Service.
Graham echoed Blumenthal’s statement.
“If you’re in the military and something like this happens, every single commander, every single first sergeant, the entire unit would be replaced almost down to one person. So if there’s no accountability here, then it will be difficult for Congress to accept that this was done the right way to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Graham said.
Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this update.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. has refuted claims that he personally rejected more resources and security personnel for former President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Is that true?” Johnson said.
Rowe responded, “That’s a false claim. It’s wrong. ”
“It’s okay. I mean, that’s the kind of data you have to refute with documentation,” Johnson responded.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Tuesday that he reported through the Secret Service that a drone was not operational on the day of former President Trump’s rally due to technical difficulties.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe responded: “This is everything I talked about behind closed doors and, again, anything that requires a lot of sleep because of the abuser’s bottom line. What if we had geolocated because the platform at the UAS counter was in Service? It’s something that was difficult for me to understand and I have no explanation for it.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill. , pressed witnesses after FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said SWAT observed shooter Thomas Crooks with a rangefinder before the shooting. murder.
Rowe responded, “So I will say, Senator, that it is evident that someone is looking to find out where you are in the vicinity of a location, a constant location. I refer you to my colleague here, but I think it was recreation or sports. “I read that it was a rangefinder for golf. However, it would still have allowed him to indicate the distance he was from his target.
“Wasn’t that enough?” Durbin followed him.
“As far as suspicions arising. . . I believe he was known as a suspect through local authorities,” Rowe said.
“And nothing happened,” Durbin said.
Reacting to questions from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. , acting director Ronald Rowe Jr. admitted that responsibility for the security breach at former President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on July 13 ultimately rests with the Secret Service.
“What I would say, senator, is that the roof has had greater coverage. We will get to the back of the matter. If there were violations of the policy,” Rowe responded.
Paul responded: “I think a breach of protocol would be indefensible. And I can’t believe how indefensible it would be not to break protocol. »
“You’re right, sir,” he said Rowe. Es a failure of the secret services. “
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. shared several images of the sniper’s attitude that show how Thomas Crooks discovered a position that didn’t cover Secret Service counterattacks.
Therefore, he has no explanation as to why the attacker did not realize before opening fire on Trump.
“That’s what our countersniper team saw. A shooter. Elbowless. You can see the most sensitive part of his head underneath. The assailant face down,” Rowe said, pointing to a photograph showing the sniper’s point of view.
“Something that I recently discovered that I need to share is a social media account that would be related to the shooter,” Abbate said.
The FBI deputy director said this social media account was active from 2019 to 2020 and that “more than 700 comments were posted from this account. ”
“Some of those comments, if in the end attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant themes to embrace political violence and are described as excessive in nature,” Abbate said.
“On July 3, the rally was announced in Butler, Pennsylvania,” Abbate said. “On July 6, the shooter signed up to attend the rally and searched, quote, how far was Oswald from Kennedy?On July 7, the shooter drove from his home to the Butler Farm Showgrounds and remained there for about 20 minutes. We believe this demonstrates complex plans and popularity on their part. On July 12, the shooter traveled from his home to the Clairton Sportsman Club, where he practiced shooting. .
“Around 6:11 p. m. , a local police officer climbed onto the roof through another officer, saw the shooter and radioed that he was armed with, quote, a long gun. Over the next 30 years the shots were fired “.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. said Tuesday that agents didn’t know there was a guy with a gun on the roof of the AGR building during former President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania until it was too late.
“I perceive that those staff members did not know that the attacker had a firearm until they heard gunshots. Prior to that, they operated knowing that local authorities were dealing with a suspicious individual. Before they were fired.
“I regret that the data has not been delivered faster and more to Congress and the public. And I am concerned that this lack of data has led to multiple false and harmful conspiracy theories about what is happening. “That day happened. And I need to debunk those theories. ”
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. , a member of the ranking, called on Google and mainstream media outlets to bury the story of Trump’s assassination in the weeks after the July 13 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Americans will be able to attend a political rally and express their political ideals without worrying about violence. And political candidates for our nation’s highest offices will need to be assured that their protection will never be compromised while on duty,” Peters said.
Peters said the committee would ask questions about the Secret Service’s complex efforts to come up with plans, decisions about the placement of sniper and counter-sniper groups and communications outages at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has diligently received records and testimony from the FBI, the Secret Service and local authorities as his workplace provides surveillance in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
“Well, I’ll start by asking about drones. Why did the secret have drones and it wasn’t functional when they were in a position to launch them into the air?And I think that’s a flaw, as the shooter had a drone flying over the area,” Grassley said.
“Then we’re going to focus on that breakdown in communication between law enforcement, local law enforcement and intelligence, and why they didn’t have a meeting before the event occurred or a few days before the event occurred. Just “There are many defects. ”
Donald Trump in his speech at the Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville, Tennessee. (Getty images)
Trump was able to take the stage Saturday afternoon at the Music City Center for the 2024 Bitcoin convention when Secret Service agents kept him waiting while two accredited and selected attendees were ejected from the room for failing to follow instructions. correct access protocols, a Secret Service spokesperson confirmed. on Fox News.
His secret service asked the former president to wait until the two Americans were there before he could rise to the level to deliver his opening remarks.
“We have decided that there was no protective interest toward those Americans and that there was never a risk against the former president,” the spokesman said.
The two Americans were picked up by police after they were discovered and evicted from the event, the New York Post reported. None of the users have been charged in connection with the incident.
The other two people were detained at a first checkpoint before bypassing the second, according to the media outlet.
It is still unclear how it was controlled to pass the checkpoint.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this update.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley on Monday released several documents similar to the assassination attempt on former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
However, the location of the possible assassin Thomas Crooks, above a warehouse owned by AGR International, is not included in the domain covered by the snipers. Their location is detailed in an after-action report from Beaver County, which reiterated their sniper’s position, not far from Crooks’.
Documentation collected through Grassley also proved the existence of Crooks and his suspicious habit that led to the shooting that night.
About an hour before the assassination attempt, snipers spotted Crooks and reported that he was sitting at a nearby picnic table.
The message also said that a bicycle and a backpack had given the impression of being at the back of the building.
Photos of Crooks, the motorcycle and the backpack were exchanged with local police via text messages.
Just minutes before Crooks opened fire, local officials attending the event knew exactly where he had gone.
One user replied “not sure” when asked which direction Crooks had traveled. “He opposed the building,” they wrote at 6 p. m. If I had to guess backwards. Away from the event. “
But at 6:12 p. m. , they were fired.
Grassley’s said it was continuing to track the assassination attempt.
Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this update.
A screenshot of text messages received in the investigation into the July 13 assassination of former President Donald Trump. (Obtained through Senator Chuck Grassley)
New text messages between first responders in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, show the understaffing they had ahead of a rally for former President Trump earlier this month, when a would-be killer shot him and his gun. people, killing a spectator.
According to one executive, his team was busy and unable to participate in the rally, noting that “everyone is working, on vacation or injured,” in texts provided to Fox News Digital through the workplace of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
On Monday the senator revealed a review of all files obtained through Grassley related to the assassination attempt.
Text messages between Beaver County emergency team leaders showed they were asked to help Butler County provide security for the Trump event just days before the rally. A message was sent to team leaders on July 8, asking who would be available to help at the July 13 event.
At one point, someone said they could tell Butler County, where the Trump rally took place, that the emergency in Beaver County would have to be “on call. ”
Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this update.
Thomas Crooks’ parents, Matthew and Mary Crooks, return to their home in Bethel Park, Pa. , Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
“He will have to prove beyond a doubt that [Crooks’ parents] aided and abetted his ability to plan this assassination attempt or somehow knew what he was doing and provided him with the means to do so,” Pennsylvania said. Attorney Matthew Mangino of Fox News Digital-based Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly and George said, “I think that would be tricky to achieve, beyond a moderate doubt. “
Mangino added, however, that “civil liability is another story. ”
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this update.
Buildings adjacent to the Butler Farm Show, site of a crusade rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, are seen Monday, July 15, 2024 in Butler, Pa. Thomas Crooks shot from the roof of the construction complex and was injured. Trump attempted an assassination on July 13. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Crooks then walked across several rooftops before setting up his shooting stand atop a structure owned by American Glass Research (AGR) near the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, about 150 yards from where the former president spoke at his rally.
The FBI held a news conference with reporters more than two weeks after Crooks, 20, shot Trump with an AR-15 DPMS-style firearm with a collapsible inventory at the rally in an assassination attempt that touched the president’s ear but went away. One man died and two others were hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh office, said the firm has reviewed more than 2,100 tips similar to the assassination attempt since July 13.
Before the shooting, Crooks searched the web for current and former presidents.
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this update.
The director of the United States Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned last week after tensions arose following the assassination of former President Trump.
“To the men and women of the United States Secret Service, the solemn project of the Secret Service is for our nation’s leaders and monetary infrastructure,” Cheatle wrote in a letter to the agency. “On July 13 we did not comply with this project. “
Cheatle said last week’s “scrutiny” “has been intense and will continue to be intense as our operational tempo increases. ”
“As principal, I take full responsibility for security violations,” she wrote.
“As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and integrity to take on the full duty of an organization tasked with one of the toughest jobs in public service,” Biden said. “We all know that what happened that day can never happen again. As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best. “
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, Jacqui Heinrich and Peter Doocy contributed to this update.
Tuesday’s hearing comes after the FBI released new major points related to the investigation into longtime presidential assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The FBI told reporters Monday that Crooks had a long-standing “interest in science” and “experiments” and that, as a result, his circle of relatives was “not concerned” about the countless packages he won in his home.
The thieves, aged 20, made 25 gun purchases online between spring 2023 and the first part of this year, and bought fabrics used to make explosives six times, all under pseudonyms, according to the agency.
President Biden is now tasked with naming a permanent head of the Secret Service. Biden wrote in a statement that he planned to make the selection for him “soon. “
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Christina Coulter contributed to this update.
Ronald Rowe, acting director of the United States Secret Service, leaves the United States Capitol after a briefing with senators on Thursday, July 25, 2024. The former director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned Tuesday. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. Getty Images)
West Palm Beach Deputy Police Chief Tony Spatara, CBS 12, said he met Rowe at the police academy in 1995, at what is now Palm Beach State College.
“Knowing him as a user, I’m very proud that he achieved his goal, and even some within the Secret Service,” Spatara said. “Ron is a very intelligent and well-rounded user with a wealth of experience. ”
After graduating, Rowe joined WPBPD’s SWAT team and decided to serve on high-level police task forces as the city battled a crack epidemic, CBS12 reported.
Spatara recounted a time when Rowe sprang into action while providing security at the St. Spatara. John’s Medical Center. Mary’s.
The deputy police chief said Rowe was “exactly” the right user to lead the Secret Service, as if facing a crisis of accountability and credibility following the former man’s near-successful assassination attempt. President Trump.
“I think they made the right decision in deciding on him. I don’t know in this country who is better qualified to face the challenge that is coming. “
Anders Hagstrom of Fox News Digital contributed to this update.
Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate will appear at a joint hearing with the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees. This is the first time a member of the Secret Service will appear before Congress since former Chief Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation earlier this month.
The Secret Service did not respond to a request for comment prepared through Rowe for committees.
Rowe took over as head of the Secret Service amid growing distrust of the company among elected officials and the public following the assassination of former President Trump.
Rowe is now guilty of directing more than 7,800 special agents, uniformed department agents, and technical law enforcement agents, as well as administrative and technical personnel.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this update.
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