Lawmakers Announce Investigations Into Trump Assassination Attempt

Secret Service agents surround former President Donald Trump as he is taken off the stage after being shot at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives will conduct bipartisan investigations into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

The former president was grazed by a bullet fired by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. One rally attendee was killed, and two others were seriously injured.

Lawmakers have called for an investigation into how the shooter managed to gain access to the roof of a nearby building and fire at the former president, despite the presence of the U.S. Secret Service. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) announced on July 15 that the committee will hear testimony from Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on July 22.

“The United States Secret Service has a no-fail mission, yet it failed on Saturday when a madman attempted to assassinate President Trump, killed an innocent victim, and harmed others,” Mr. Comer said in a statement announcing the hearing. “Questions remain about how a rooftop within proximity to President Trump was left unsecure.”

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), also a member of the Oversight Committee, wants questions about the assassination attempt answered as well.

“Congressman Gosar will be very interested in understanding how law enforcement failed to provide a secure perimeter, why law enforcement ignored multiple warnings that an assassin was positioned on a nearby roof and whether law enforcement ignored President Trump’s requests for beefed up security resources,” a spokesperson for Mr. Gosar told The Epoch Times in a written statement.

Bipartisan Senate Investigation

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee announced that it will investigate the incident and hold a hearing on the matter before Aug. 1.

“Our committee is focused on getting all of the facts about the security failures that allowed the attacker to carry out this heinous act of violence,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), chairman of the committee, said in a written statement shared by his staff with The Epoch Times.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the committee’s ranking member, also commented in the written statement.

“This committee has an obligation to unearth the truth about the failures on Saturday and before, no matter how inconvenient to the government,” he said. “We will leave no stone unturned.”

The two senators also sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray about the incident. Their letter demanded information about whether former President Trump’s campaign had requested, but not received, additional protection from the Secret Service—a claim that the agency has denied—and what steps the agency is now taking to prevent future incidents.

“We would like to understand the security posture at the Trump campaign rally, how the suspect was able to get this close to a Secret Service protectee and cause injury to the protectee,” the senators wrote in the letter.

In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Republican committee members requested a hearing on the incident.

“We must get to the bottom of how the would-be assassin was able to access a nearby rooftop with a rifle and a line of sight to President Trump. The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has an obligation to exercise its jurisdiction and oversight authority,” they wrote in the letter.

President Joe Biden announced on July 14 that he has requested an independent review of the incident. During a July 15 White House news briefing, Mr. Mayorkas said the review would be conducted by entities outside the government but that the reviewer has not yet been selected.

Representatives for the Secret Service and the office of Mr. Mayorkas did not respond to requests for comment before publication. The FBI declined to comment.