A stunning security failure that allowed a would-be assassin to take shots at former President Donald Trump during a recent rally in Butler, Pennsylvania , has spurred rounds of finger-pointing over who is to blame.
Six days after the shooting, the Secret Service’s communication to the public has been limited, and anonymous leaks to the press about the matter have exacerbated existing questions about how the shocking attack could have happened.
Signs of tension have emerged between local law enforcement and the Secret Service, particularly after Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle revealed in a television interview that local authorities were the ones responsible for guarding the American Glass Research building, where suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks crawled on top of the roof about 400 feet from Trump and took shots at the rally crowd.
“For them to blame local law enforcement is them passing the blame when they hold the blame, in my opinion,” Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger told the Washington Post.
Crooks killed one and critically injured two. Trump appeared to have been clipped by a bullet, emerging from a pile of Secret Service agents with blood spattered across his face and a minor injury to his ear.
A Secret Service countersniper killed Crooks seconds after he opened fire. However, videos show bystanders warning nearby officers about a man on the roof a minute before the gunfire.
In a briefing with House lawmakers, Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe revealed that the agency learned from Pennsylvania State Police of a suspicious person at the rally with a rangefinder, which is a firearm accessory, 20 minutes before Crooks opened fire, according to a source familiar with the briefing.
Rowe had no explanation for lawmakers about why authorities lost sight of Crooks between 5:51 p.m., when state police raised concerns about him to the Secret Service, and 6:11 p.m., when the first shots rang out.
A source familiar with security setup said the Secret Service’s plan was “abysmal” and disjointed. The source said the Secret Service had two “command posts” at the rally, one for the Secret Service and one for Butler County police and emergency services. There was no Secret Service representation at the latter command post, which would have affected the timeliness of addressing threats, the source said.
Cheatle has said partnering with local and state authorities is a routine and critical part of the Secret Service's security measures and that armed local officers were the ones inside the building at the time that Crooks accessed the roof.
Another area of contention surrounding the assassination attempt is the FBI's role.
The FBI has been the entity leading the investigation into the shooting and told lawmakers that it still has identified no motive after interviewing more than 220 people and searching Crooks's phone, home, and vehicle, according to the source familiar with the House briefing.
The bureau said it was in the process of trying to access three foreign encrypted platforms used by the shooter on his primary cellphone, the source said, noting he also had a secondary phone. The FBI said it has served legal documents to 30 companies as it seeks more information on the gunman, the source said.
While multiple congressional committees and the Department of Homeland Security inspector general are conducting their own reviews of the shooting, some on the Right have taken issue with the FBI handling the main investigation.
Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) said his constituents “don’t have faith in the current FBI leadership” because of the bureau’s role in investigating Trump in his two federal criminal cases.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who has for the past several years been railing against what he claims is an FBI that is weaponized against conservatives, sent an inquiry to the bureau on Thursday asking about its involvement in security planning for the rally and alluding to GOP distrust.
"The Committee has several unanswered questions about the failures that led to the attempted assassination of a president—the first in over forty years—as well as the FBI’s ability to conduct a rapid, transparent, and thorough investigation in the wake of its recent scandals," Jordan wrote to Director Christopher Wray.
The FBI said it received Jordan's letter but declined to comment further.
But Cheatle, who has worked for the Secret Service for 25 years, has been perhaps the top subject of scrutiny as leading Republican lawmakers call for her resignation. Some Democrats, such as Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), have joined in saying she will likely need to go.
Critics have accused the Secret Service of a lack of transparency. The Washington Examiner asked the Secret Service why the agency has not held a press conference about the attempted assassination but received no response.
Cheatle, for her part, has not been entirely silent. The director has done a couple television interviews since the incident, participated in the briefings with both Senate and House lawmakers this week, and, according to a House Oversight Committee spokesperson, she has agreed to appear before the panel for a public hearing on July 22.
Cheatle admitted to lawmakers that mistakes had occurred, according to a source familiar with the House briefing. However, in an interview with ABC News, she said she does not plan to resign.
Anger toward Cheatle reached a peak on Wednesday at the Republican National Convention, where four GOP senators confronted the director, saying they were dissatisfied with her briefing and demanding to know why Trump had been allowed on the rally stage despite law enforcement having identified a threat.
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“Why would anyone allow the president to go onstage?” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) asked Cheatle.
After Cheatle said it was not the “forum” to address their concerns, the senators, in an astonishing move, began following her through the venue, peppering her with questions for more than a minute until Cheatle was out of sight.
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