As the congressional task force investigating recent assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump, now the president-elect, held its final hearing on Dec. 5, members noted that they still had not received all relevant documents and testimony from federal law enforcement agencies.
The revelation comes more than two weeks after the task force subpoenaed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), which is part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), for the testimony of two agents regarding the July 13 attempt on Trump’s life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The panel also sought information about ATF’s involvement in the aftermath of the Sept. 15 assassination attempt against Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
ATF made some documents available to the task force shortly after the subpoenas were served on Nov. 19. But at the Dec. 5 hearing, Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.) said the panel had yet to receive “critical intelligence information” from ATF and the FBI, including digital analyses of Trump’s would-be assassins’ devices; assessments of their financial records; and interview summaries with the family members of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the Butler shooter.
“Our mission on this task force is to understand what went wrong on the day of the attempted assassination, ensure accountability, and prevent such a failure from ever happening again,” Lee told Ronald Rowe Jr., the acting director of the Secret Service, who was the sole witness at the hearing.
But to achieve those goals, Lee said, the panel needs access to all relevant information related to the assassination attempts and the “actual threat landscape” that Trump was facing on those days.
“I beseech and suggest to the Department of Justice going forward that this is information that can and should and must be provided to Congress if we are to understand how to equip and support our federal law enforcement agencies,” she said.
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), chairman of the task force, said Lee was “spot on” with her assessment. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), a former assistant U.S. attorney, echoed his Republican colleagues’ frustration.
“I recognize that in ongoing criminal investigations, there’s a reluctance to turn over information too soon because it can undermine the investigation. You can tip off defendants and targets and the like, so you want to be careful about that, and I understand that,” Ivey said.
“But I must say, too, that there’s some information that we didn’t get—and [Lee] outlined some of that—it didn’t seem to be connected to an ongoing criminal investigation. And I thought that we should have had access to that.”
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Rowe assumed the top role at the Secret Service upon the resignation of Director Kimberly Cheatle in the aftermath of the Butler shooting. While Trump narrowly escaped the incident with his life, two rallygoers, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were critically wounded, and a third, Corey Comperatore, was killed.
Since then, Rowe has testified several times before Congress on the various security failures that nearly cost Trump his life, from communications breakdowns to failures to adequately secure the premises.
Highlighting those failures, Kelly urged accountability.
“It’s not in our nation’s or anyone’s interest for the Secret Service to delay accountability decisions any longer,” he said. “I strongly encourage Director Rowe to review the task force’s final report and act to hold those individuals responsible for the failure accountable in a way that enables the Secret Service to move forward.”
Rowe, in his opening remarks, said that “accountability is occurring” but that it would take time.
“It is an extensive review that requires time to ensure due process and the pace of this process,” he said. “Quite frankly, it does frustrate me, but it is essential that we recognize the gravity of our failure. I personally carry the weight of knowing that we almost lost a protectee, and our failure cost a father and husband his life.”
