WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump held its first hearing. The Congressional hearing focused on testimony from local and state law enforcement who were at the July 13 rally in Butler, PA.
Our Washington DC correspondents were inside the committee room where the hearing took place. You could feel the intensity from lawmakers and from the law enforcement panel that testified about the first assassination attempt.
A lot of the testimony focused on things that are already known: communication failures between Secret Service and local law enforcement; the site where the shooter was based at was not part of the security perimeter; but the main takeaway from this hearing was that it’s ultimately up to the Secret Service to make sure the site is secure and safe. All members of the Task Force all pointed the finger at the Secret Service for the failures that day.
The Task Force heard testimony from a former Secret Service agent as well as local law enforcement and state police who were all onsite during that shooting. They gave a rundown as to what goes into planning these types of events, the security measures and coordination with the secret service.
The Task Force is chaired by Congressman Mike Kelly (R-PA), who is still trying to piece together how the former President took the stage and remained on stage despite a potential security risk.
“I still can’t understand of all the different people on the grounds that day out of the thousands of people there’s only one consistent person they identified and it was the shooter,” said Rep. Kelly. “So, I don’t believe the grounds were safe and secure that day. I’m just trying to understand what it was or what it would’ve taken to keep Mr. Trump inside until we clear this up.”
During his closing remarks, the northwest PA Congressman thanked the witnesses, including some from Kelly’s hometown, for doing what they were instructed on July 13.
“We live in the same place,” said Rep. Kelly “We experienced the same thing that Saturday. I know how deeply wounded you were after that event, because the first time anybody pointed fingers at anybody, it was at local law enforcement,” said Kelly. “You being here today is a validation of what you did that day, your commitment to that day and going over and above what you normally would have done,” he told the witnesses.
The hearing comes one day after a scathing 94-page report from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The Senate report outlined several planning, communications and security failures by the Secret Service, including lack of a chain of command, inadequate resources and equipment, a failure to effectively secure the site and poor coordination with state and local law enforcement, which is consistent with what we heard in the hearing.
Trump returning to same site on October 5. His campaign said the former President plans on honoring firefighter Corey Comperatore who was shot and killed during the attempted assassination.
The Task Force will also look into the second assassination attempt in Florida.
