The Secret Service is facing intense scrutiny after a would-be assassin fired multiple rounds at former President Donald Trump and left him bloodied, reviving a host of questions about how the government protects top officials.
Top Republicans demanded to know how a shooter could gain a line-of-sight view of the former president from a nearby rooftop. House Speaker Mike Johnson wondered why authorities weren’t using drones to keep tabs on things.
One eyewitness said they spotted the person now believed to be the shooter as he was crawling atop a roof, according to BBC. They said they tried to alert law enforcement.
“What happened here?” Mr. Johnson said on CNN. “I think pretty clearly there was a security lapse, at least.”
Agents have even become the butts of internet jokes.
Video of the immediate aftermath of the shooting showed one of them appearing to struggle to reholster her handgun while protecting Mr. Trump’s vehicle. Another fiddled with her sunglasses.
“There are many questions and Americans demand answers. I have already contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and am also calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing,” said Rep. James Comer, Kentucky Republican and chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
President Biden, speaking Sunday, said he has ordered an investigation but insisted Mr. Trump had full protection.
“I’ve been consistent in my direction of the Secret Service to provide him with every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety,” the president said.
Still, he ordered a review to determine whether changes are needed and to examine “the national security at yesterday’s rally.”
“And we will share the results of that independent review with the American people as well,” he said.
The Secret Service insisted that it’s ready for the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee.
“We are confident in the security plans that are in place for this event, and we are ready to go,” said Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the service’s coordinator for the RNC.
Mr. Trump is the first person under Secret Service protection known to have been shot by an assailant since President Reagan in 1981.
Still, the agency has sustained black eyes over the years. In 2012, agents hired prostitutes while preparing for a presidential visit to Colombia. Two years later, an intruder overpowered an agent at the White House and ran free on the main floor before he was apprehended.
Top lawmakers on Capitol Hill labeled Saturday’s attack a “security failure” and said the public must find out what went wrong.
“No assassination attempt has come so close to taking the life of a president or presidential candidate since President Reagan was shot in 1981,” said Rep. Mark Green, Tennessee Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. “Had the bullet’s trajectory been slightly different, the assassination attempt on President Trump might have succeeded.”
Among the issues raised by lawmakers is how a shooter was able to get to an elevated position with a firing lane to the former president on stage.
Lawmakers also pointed to news reports that the Trump campaign had recently sought enhanced protection from the Secret Service but was rebuffed.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose department oversees the Secret Service, is facing the brunt of questions.
He issued a statement Saturday saying he and Ms. Cheatle personally briefed Mr. Biden about the attack and promised vigilance.
“We are engaged with President Biden, former President Trump, and their campaigns, and are taking every possible measure to ensure their safety and security,” Mr. Mayorkas said. “Maintaining the security of the Presidential candidates and their campaign events is one of our Department’s most vital priorities.”
Mr. Trump gained Secret Service protection in late 2015 during his first presidential campaign. He has had it since, including his time in the White House, then as a former president and now as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Who gets protection is a thorny issue that involves balancing agency resources, the levels of threats and a bit of politics. Having protection can elevate a candidate’s stature, lending their campaign more credibility.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as a third-party candidate in this year’s presidential election, had been denied a protective detail by the Biden administration.
In the wake of Saturday’s assassination attempt, two members of Congress announced plans to write legislation to give Mr. Kennedy protection and enhance protection for Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden.
Attorney General Merrick Garland labeled the assassination attempt an “attack on our democracy,” harnessing the same label he has used for the mob that invaded the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, sending lawmakers fleeing and disrupting the Electoral College count.
Authorities have identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. He managed to send multiple rounds toward the president, killing one rallygoer and critically wounding two others before he was killed.
Mr. Trump emerged with blood on his face. He said a bullet grazed his right ear.
America First Legal, an outfit of former senior officials from the Trump administration, said Saturday that it had filed an open-records request to determine whether the Homeland Security Department rebuffed requests for enhanced Secret Service protection for Mr. Trump.
Meanwhile, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi, the senior Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, came under scrutiny for legislation he wrote earlier this year that could have stripped Mr. Trump of Secret Service protection if he ended up in prison.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who survived a gunman’s assassination attempt in 2017, said Mr. Thompson’s bill is a symptom of anti-Trump hysteria.
“I mean, look, there’s legislation right now filed by Democrats from months and months ago to take away Donald Trump’s Secret Service protection,” the Louisiana Republican told Fox News. “That’s a very specific targeted action because they don’t like the person.”
In introducing the legislation, Mr. Thompson said he was worried that a Secret Service protective detail could lead to accommodations for a former president in prison. He said the bill would have clarified who had custody of Mr. Trump behind bars.
This weekend, he said his legislation had nothing to do with the assassination attempt.
“My bill would not have affected the Secret Service’s presence during this tragic event. It aims to clarify lines of authority when a protectee is sentenced to prison and is in the custody of another law enforcement agency. That does not apply to the former President,” Mr. Thompson said.
The Republican-controlled House has not acted on the bill.
A Manhattan jury convicted Mr. Trump in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records. His sentencing has been postponed until Sept. 18.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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