Washington — Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rove is set to testify on Thursday before the bipartisan House task force investigating assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump, as the panel prepares to examine the events that rocked the country. Was put into shock. presidential election.
panel, which house voted to establish Earlier this year, it has been tasked with investigating security failures during the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. failed attempt On September 15 in West Palm Beach, Florida. MPs will also make recommendations to prevent future attacks. Thursday's hearing will begin at 9:30 am 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 grueling day of testimony before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Rowe's testimony on Thursday is 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. After taking control of the agency, Rove appeared before other congressional committees.
The panel, composed of seven Republicans and six Democrats, is expected to submit a report of its findings in the coming weeks. The task force said that after Thursday's hearing, the panel will hold a business meeting to consider a final report.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The committee issued a 53 page interim report October focused on the July 13 incident, outlining the shortcomings of communication and planning, deeming it “preventable”. “The investigation clearly demonstrates 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 one bullet passing the former president's ear. Secret Service Sniper shot dead by gunmanIdentified as a 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks,
The panel reported in an interim report that “broken lines of communication” allowed the gunman to “escape law enforcement”, climb to the roof of a nearby building and fire eight shots. The report claimed that “Federal, state and local law enforcement officials were able to connect with Thomas Matthew Crooks at several critical moments.”
The task force also alleged in the report that responsibilities were not “effectively” confirmed by the Secret Service with local partners before the shooting. Witnesses who took part in a tour of the area a few days before the assassination attempt described it as being in disarray.
When the interim report was released, the panel said it had received relevant information from other House committees, conducted 23 written interviews with witnesses from state and local agencies, and served three subpoenas to federal, state and local agencies. Evidence has been received in response. Last month the panel also issued a summons To the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for the testimony of two ATF employees.
The panel has also sought information from federal agencies regarding the September 15 incident. That day, Trump was playing golf at his course in West Palm Beach Secret Service arrested A man carrying what appeared to be an AK-47 was a few hundred yards away from the President-elect. man, Ryan Wesley RothUsed to be attempted murder charge Apart from the firearms charges, also that of a political person.