Secret Service under intense scrutiny after assassination attempt on Donald Trump

The Secret Service is facing mounting questions after a 20-year-old was able to position himself on a roof and shoot at former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has requested a briefing and that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle appear for a hearing.

On Sunday, a Secret Service spokesperson released a statement in an attempt to tamp down misinformation.

RELATED STORY | What is known about the suspected shooter at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania

"Theres an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed," said Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi. "This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo"

There have been a number of conspiracy theories floating around on the internet about the assassination attempt and the response from the Secret Service.

Investigators have said it was a member of the Secret Service who engaged the shooter, killing him after he fired shots toward former President Trump. One of those bullets grazed the former president in the right ear and a rally attendee was killed. Two other attendees were critically injured.

RELATED STORY | Trump says he was shot in ear at Pennsylvania rally; shooter killed

There are still a lot of questions about how something like this could have happened. The Secret Service is in charge of securing the immediate area around a political candidate who has a Secret Service detail. That includes Trump, who already has Secret Service protection because he is a former president.

The shooter fired from outside the perimeter, but a former Secret Service agent who spoke with Scripps News said the agency should have still been prepared for this type of scenario.

The House Committee on Homeland Security sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, noting "serious concerns" about how the shooter was able to access a rooftop with a "direct line of sight of where President Trump was speaking."

Later Sunday, Scripps News learned the Senate Homeland Security Committee will be investigating the incident.

It's requested documents that show the security plan for the event, protocols for neutralizing threats and copies of briefing materials used to inform President Joe Biden about the incident.