Sens. Peters, Paul to convene hearing on Trump rally shooting Tuesday
FBI, Secret Service leaders expected to testify as part of ongoing committee investigation
A bipartisan quartet of federal Congressional leaders has called on some of the nation’s top law enforcement and security officials to turn over documentation, on the eve of a Senate hearing on the July 13 assassination attempt of former President and Republican candidate Donald J. Trump.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Ranking Member Rand Paul (R-KY) last week pressed leadership of the United States Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security and five local state and local jurisdictions in Pennsylvania to turn over documentation related to the Butler, Pa., campaign rally where Trump was speaking.
It came ahead of a joint briefing of the homeland security and Senate Judiciary Committees scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday.
In a series of letters dated July 24, Peters, Paul and Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) asked law enforcement for a slate of documents ranging from site security plans to post-shooting investigation timelines.
“The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee … has initiated a bipartisan investigation into how this attack was able to occur, what security, personnel or other failures contributed to the attempt, and steps that must be taken to ensure any mistakes are avoided in the future,” the senators wrote.
According to a story published Sunday in the New York Times, some law enforcement agencies at the July 13 rally were made aware of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman who carried out the assassination attempt, more than 100 minutes before Trump took the stage.
On Monday, FBI officials announced Crooks conducted internet searches related to power plants, mass shooting events and the May assassination attempt on Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, the Washington Post reported. Trump has agreed to sit for an interview with the bureau about the attempt, the Post reported.
“There is no place for political violence in our nation, and (July 13’s) shocking attack should never have been allowed to happen,” Peters said in a statement. “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 that threatened the life of former President Trump, killed … one person in the crowd and injured several others.”
“Violence is never acceptable, not in our streets or in our politics,” Paul added in the statement. “We thank God that President Trump is alive, we mourn with the (family of Corey) Comperatore … and pray for those who were wounded. This committee has an obligation to unearth the truth about the failures on Saturday and before, no matter how inconvenient to the government. We will leave no stone unturned.”
Ronald Rowe Jr., acting director of the Secret Service and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbatte are scheduled to speak at Tuesday’s hearing.
