Members of Congress are asking questions about the performance of the U.S. Secret Service in Butler, Pennsylvania. Rep. Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday raising questions about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and demanding information about the former President’s Secret Service protection, AP reported yesterday. “The seriousness of this security failure and chilling moment in our nation’s history cannot be understated” [sic—he meant overstated], Green wrote in the letter.
Green asked Mayorkas to provide documentation relating to the event’s security plan, the screening of attendees and the level of resources provided to Trump’s Secret Service detail. A committee spokesperson told NBC News that Republican members would hold a briefing with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on July 15 “to voice their concerns and ask pressing questions.”
Green also noted reports that the Secret Service had rebuffed requests from the Trump campaign for additional security. A Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said on X on July 14 that those allegations were “absolutely false” and that they had added resources and technology as the campaign’s travel increased. Green said he would be talking with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on July 14.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chairman of the House Oversight Committee chairman, said he contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and called on Cheatle to appear for a hearing. Comer said his committee will send a formal invitation soon.
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) wrote Cheatle asking who approved the security plan, whether a proper threat assessment was conducted, whether attendees raised alarms and whether there were failures in following protocols that allowed the attack to happen. “I call on all those responsible for the planning, approving, and executing of this failed security plan to be held accountable and to testify before Congress immediately,” Gallego wrote in a letter to Cheatle.