Washington — Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe is set to testify Thursday before the bipartisan House task force investigating the assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump as the panel prepares to wrap its investigation into the incidents that sent shockwaves through the country in the lead up to the presidential election.
The panel, which the House voted to establish earlier this year, is tasked with looking into the security failures during the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the foiled attempt in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15. The lawmakers will also make recommendations to prevent future attacks. Thursday’s hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Capitol Hill.
The Secret Service came under intense scrutiny in the wake of the initial attack, and its director at the time, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned in July after a bruising day of testimony before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Rowe’s testimony on Thursday marks his first public appearance before the task force, which heard testimony from local law enforcement and a former Secret Service agent at a hearing earlier this year. Rowe appeared before other congressional committees after he took control of the agency.
Made up of seven Republicans and six Democrats, the panel is expected to submit a report of its findings in the coming weeks. Following Thursday’s hearing, the panel will hold a business meeting to consider the final report, the task force said.
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The committee released a 53-page interim report in October focused on the July 13 incident, deeming it “preventable,” while outlining communication and planning shortcomings. The investigation “clearly shows a lack of planning and coordination between the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners,” the task force said at the time, noting that the findings were preliminary.
Trump was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13 when a gunman opened fire, with a bullet grazing the former president’s ear. Secret Service snipers shot and killed the gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The panel outlined in the interim report that “fragmented lines of communication” allowed the gunman to “evade law enforcement,” climb onto the roof of a nearby building and fire eight shots. The report claims that “federal, state, and local law enforcement officers could have engaged Thomas Matthew Crooks at several pivotal moments.”
The task force also alleged in the report that responsibilities were not “effectively” confirmed by the Secret Service with local partners ahead of the shooting. Witnesses who participated in a walkthrough of the area days before the assassination attempt called it disorganized.
When the interim report was released, the panel said it had received relevant information from other House committees, conducted 23 transcribed interviews with witnesses from state and local agencies, and obtained evidence in response to three subpoenas to federal, state and local agencies. Last month, the panel also issued subpoenas to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for testimony from two ATF employees.
The panel has also sought information from federal agencies regarding the Sept. 15 incident. On that day, Trump was golfing at his course in West Palm Beach when the Secret Service arrested a man with an AK-47-style weapon who was within a few hundred yards of the president-elect. The man, Ryan Wesley Routh, has been charged with attempted assassination of a political figure in addition to firearms charges.
