Acting Secret Service head grilled over failures leading to Trump assassination attempt

Geoff Bennett:

One week after the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, her acting successor, Ronald Rowe, spent this morning acknowledging his agency's failures and trying to reassure Congress during a hearing that the Secret Service is capable and accountable.

Rowe was joined at the hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees by the deputy director of the FBI, Paul Abbate.

Man:

Do you swear that the testimony you will give…

Geoff Bennett:

For the second time in just eight days…

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC):

Somebody has got to be fired.

Geoff Bennett:

… members of Congress grilled the head of the Secret Service over the security failures leading up to the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump earlier this month.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA):

How could they not see? They're in an elevated position. They're checking rooftops. They're looking around. There's two government snipers. How could they not see him?

Geoff Bennett:

This time under oath, Acting Director Ronald Rowe, just a week into his tenure calling the efforts to protect Mr. Trump a — quote — "failure on multiple levels."

Ronald Rowe, Acting U.S. Secret Service Director:

I went to the roof of the AGR building where they assailant fired shots and I laid in a prone position to evaluate his line of sight. What I saw made me ashamed.

As a career law enforcement officer and a 25-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured.

Geoff Bennett:

Rowe was at times more direct in his testimony than his predecessor, Kimberly Cheatle, but he pushed back even harder, leading to heated exchanges with some Republican senators, including Missouri Republican Josh Hawley.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO):

Sure. My question is, why don't you relieve everybody of duty who made bad judgment? So, yes, you're right. I am zeroing in on somebody. I'm trying to find somebody who's accountable here. The former president was shot.

Ronald Rowe:

Sir, this could have been our Texas Schoolbook Depository. I have lost sleep over that for the last 17 days, just like you have.

Sen. Josh Hawley:

Then just fire somebody to hold them accountable.

Ronald Rowe:

And I will tell you Senator — I will tell you, Senator, that I will not rush to judgment, that people will be held accountable. And I will do so with integrity and not rush to judgment and put people unfairly persecuted.

Sen. Josh Hawley:

I can't believe that you are — unfairly persecuted?

Geoff Bennett:

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz lit into Rowe over reports that the Secret Service previously denied requests from the Trump campaign for additional protection and whether there was adequate staffing at the time of the shooting.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX):

Is it your testimony that in Butler, Pennsylvania, Donald Trump had the same number of agents protecting him that Joe Biden has at a comparable event?

Ronald Rowe:

I'm telling you the shift, the close protection shift, surrounded — that's what you asked me, Senator, and I'm trying to answer it.

Sen. Ted Cruz:

You are not answering it. Is it the same number of agents or not?

Ronald Rowe:

Senator, there is a difference between the sitting president of the United States…

Sen. Ted Cruz:

Then what's the difference?

Ronald Rowe:

The difference…

Sen. Ted Cruz:

Two-x, 3x, 5x, 10x?

Ronald Rowe:

National command authority to launch a nuclear strike. Sir, there are other assets…

Sen. Ted Cruz:

I'm not asking why you assign more to Joe Biden. I'm asking, is the difference, is it 2x, is it 3x, is it 5x, is it 10x?

Ronald Rowe:

Senator, I will get you that number so you can see it with your own eyes.

Geoff Bennett:

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate laid out the most comprehensive public account of the shooting yet, detailing several missed chances and lapses in communication between local law enforcement and the Secret Service.

Paul Abbate, FBI Deputy Director:

The first reported sighting the shooter by local law enforcement was at approximately 4:26 p.m.

Geoff Bennett:

But, he says, for more than 90 minutes, Secret Service snipers were unaware of the threat posed by the gunman, despite local officers trying to track him.

Paul Abbate:

Officers lost sight of the subject from approximately 6:02 p.m. to 6:08 p.m. And at approximately 6:08 p.m., the subject was observed on the roof by local law enforcement. At approximately 6:11 p.m., a local police officer was lifted to the roof by another officer, saw the shooter and radioed that he was armed with — quote — "a long gun."

Within approximately the next 30 seconds, the shots were fired.

Geoff Bennett:

Rowe called into question the performance of local law enforcement, who he said had a better view of the gunman.

Man:

This is from the second floor of the AGR building. This point of view is the point of view where the countersniper team locally was posted. The gold arrow indicates where the shooter fired from. Looking left, why was the assailant not seen?

Ronald Rowe:

We made an assumption that there was going to be uniform presence out there, that there would be sufficient eyes to cover that, that there was going to be countersniper teams in the AGR building. And I can assure you that we're not going to make that mistake again.

Geoff Bennett:

Abbate also said the FBI was still searching for a motive, but had uncovered a social media account potentially linked to the gunman.

Paul Abbate:

There were over 700 comments posted from this account. Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes, to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature.

Geoff Bennett:

A number of senators also urged Rowe to ask for more resources and personnel. Former President Trump is set to be interviewed by the FBI about the shooting later this week.