A catastrophic event happened on July 13, 2024, one that America has not witnessed since March 30, 1981.
On that date forty-three years ago, a deranged individual shot President Ronald Reagan – who was lucky to survive, and America was lucky to benefit from his world changing leadership over the following seven years.
In the aftermath of that attempted assassination, Congress held several fact-finding investigations to ensure that everything possible was done to prevent future catastrophic failures of Presidential security.
Importantly, the Director of the Secret Service recognized his culpability in failing to keep the President safe and resigned his position.
Today, in the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump - the current Republican nominee - and the death of an innocent civilian protecting his family, Congress must again ask critically important questions, review the details leading up to the shooting, and follow the facts to address the logistical, strategic, and operational mistakes that were made so that we can hold accountable those officials whose failures nearly resulted in the murder of a former and likely next President of the United States.
By now, I am sure we have all heard the shocking revelations about the security disasters on July 13th: not positioning a counter-sniper team on the roof of a building with a clear line of site to the rally stage (with the after-the-fact excuse being that it was “too slanted”); how a man with a firearm was able to get within 150 yards of Trump; why the Secret Service ignored local law enforcement’s early assessment that Crooks was a potential threat; how Crooks was able to fly a drone over the rally site the day of the event; how 20 minutes lapsed between Crooks being identified and the shooting with no action being taken; and much more.
We are also now learning that Crooks’ father called local law enforcement prior to the shooting because he was worried about his son. Why? And why is there no recording or other record of that call?
While the resignation of Secret Service Director Cheatle was a good start – and long overdue – there is much more to investigate.
The House of Representatives quickly, and in a vote of 416-0, has established the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump.
This week, Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appointed members to the task force, which will be split 7-6 between Republicans and Democrats.
The panel will have subpoena power and be responsible for delivering a report and potential legislative recommendations no later than Dec. 13.
Ten days after the assassination attempt, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee of which I am a member.
While he provided some information, and appeared to be more forthcoming than Cheatle, he still withheld important details related to the incident and the shooter’s public and online footprints.
It is simply inexcusable that the FBI continues to stone-wall Congress on what took place on July 13th.
In light of the fact that both the Secret Service and FBI have been less than forthcoming, it was welcome news to learn that Joseph Cuffari, the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security has begun two separate reviews of the Secret Service to examine the security protocol implemented at the Trump campaign event, along with its Counter Sniper Team’s preparedness and operations.
Mr. Cuffari is a dedicated professional who we can trust to conduct the comprehensive review that is needed.
IG Cuffari’s independence and professionalism has proven to be critically important for uncovering corruption and mismanagement within the Department of Homeland Security, and his actions have drawn the ire of the Biden/Harris administration.
I recently participated in a hearing to provide much needed oversight of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), one of the agencies weaponized by Biden/Harris against IGs such as Mr. Cuffari for simply doing their jobs, which is to investigate and expose wrongdoings by the administrative state and their administration along the way.
Our ability to expose this weaponization will ensure that the IGs remain independent and able to carry out their important oversight responsibilities.
More needs to be done, however, which is why two of my colleagues and I have now sent a letter to Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe demanding information.
Public reporting indicates that IG Cuffari previously sent the Secret Service a report focused on its preparation for and response to events on January 6, 2021.
We have learned that the release of this report “could cast light on a series of embarrassing security lapses for the agency.”
We must know if the recommendations within this report were ignored leading up to the events of July 13th, and the seemingly numerous other Secret Service failures this year.
We simply cannot allow Homeland Secretary Mayorkas to drag his feet on the release of this information.
The American people deserve to know what went so wrong that a deranged shooter was able to fire on President Trump, whether the shooter was acting alone, and what is being done to ensure the safety and security of our political leaders.
We also need to uncover procedural failures and miscommunications in this attack to eliminate the risk of future assassination attempts.
I look forward to a thorough and fact-based process so that no lives are lost in the future, and release of IG Cuffari’s report is a step in the right direction.
