The acting director of the Secret Service is more forthcoming with information than his predecessor, senators investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump said Thursday.
But lawmakers still have many questions about the security failures that led to the shooting attack on Mr. Trump at his July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as the Senate prepares for its first public hearing on the matter next week.
The positive reviews for acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe followed a private classified briefing he gave members of the Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary committees.
The two committees are holding a joint hearing on Tuesday with Mr. Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate.
Mr. Rowe is a temporary replacement for Kimberly Cheatle, who stepped down from the director post on Tuesday amid bipartisan calls for her resignation. She dodged most questions at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing Monday.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the top Republican on the Homeland Security panel, said senators told Mr. Rowe that he can do much better than Ms. Cheatle answering their questions — “and I think he will.”
“I think he instilled confidence in both sides that there will be a thorough investigation of this, and also that there will be accountability,” Mr. Paul told The Washington Times.
For example, Mr. Paul said the timeline of events on July 13 is “getting much more coherent,” even though he felt there were still a few missing pieces after Mr. Rowe’s briefing. Ms. Cheatle never provided a specific timeline.
Senate Homeland Security Chair Gary Peters likewise found Mr. Rowe to be “very forthright.”
Mr. Peters said questions still need to be answered, like how the shooter got up on the roof of the building where he fired at Mr. Trump and why he wasn’t apprehended more quickly.
The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired eight rounds before he was killed by Secret Service agents, but law enforcement flagged him as a suspicious person long before that.
“How is it that 62 minutes elapsed between the time Crooks is first identified, 5:10 p.m., and then at 6:12 when he starts shooting at the crowd, shoots Trump,” Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, said. “It boggles the mind.”
The Secret Service said in a statement that Mr. Rowe told senators he is “committed to restoring the American people’s trust in the United States Secret Service, and will provide more information to the public as appropriate.”
Senators have begun their own investigative work.
Mr. Peters said his committee has started interviews with “a broad range of people who would have knowledge about what happened — and more importantly about what did not happen.”
Panel staff will visit the Butler rally site on Friday.
Some GOP senators have conducted their own interviews with law enforcement and heard from whistleblowers. That includes Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the top Republican on Homeland’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, former Judiciary chairman, and Mr. Hawley, a former prosecutor who serves on both panels.
Mr. Hawley said it’s important to obtain facts quickly because witnesses’ memories fade and can shift based on subsequent conversations and news coverage.
On Thursday, he revealed that a local law enforcement agency had offered to fly a drone over the Butler rally but the Secret Service “repeatedly denied” the proposal.
The agency, according to a whistleblower, only changed course and allowed drone technology to be used after former Mr. Trump was already shot, Mr. Hawley said in a letter demanding answers from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the Secret Service.
• Stephen Dinan contributed to this report.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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