Washington — A hearing by a bipartisan task force investigating assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump turned into a heated exchange when Republican Rep. Pat Fallon accused Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rove of “playing politics.” Attended 9/11 memorial event With the top leaders of the country.
The squabble between the two erupted after Fallon displayed a photo of Trump, President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance at an event in New York City in September. were crying standing directly behind harrisThen in the second row is a candidate for the presidency.
“Who is usually closest to the President of the United States in terms of security at this type of event?” Fallon, of Texas, asked Rowe.
“Detail's SAC,” Rowe replied, referring to the special agent in charge of security. Fallon then questioned whether the acting director was serving in that role at the 9/11 memorial.
Rowe did not answer directly. He said the photo did not show the special agent in charge because he was out of frame and told Fallon he was at the event to show respect for the Secret Service members killed on 9/11. “This is the day we remember the more than 3,000 people who died on 9/11,” he said. “I actually responded at Ground Zero. I was there walking through the ashes of the World Trade Center.”
CBS News
Rove condemned Fallon, telling him, “Don't invoke 9/11 for political purposes.”
Meanwhile, the congressman said that Rove's suggestion that he had come to appear on camera was “a bunch of horse hockey.”
“Don't try to bully me,” Fallon told Rowe. “I am an elected member of Congress and I am asking you a serious question and you are playing politics.”
The acting director then shouted: “And I am a public servant who has served this country and served time in our country's darkest day. Don't politicize this.”
Rowe said he was at the memorial to represent the Secret Service and said his presence had no impact on protective operations.
“Do you know why you were there? Because you wanted to be seen because you were auditioning for this job that you're not going to get,” Fallon yelled. “You put the lives of President Biden, Vice President Harris in danger because you fired those agents. Did you have a radio? Did you wear a vest? Did you have a weapon?”
Rowe repeatedly told Fallon that she was “out of line.”
Rowe was selected to lead the Secret Service as acting director, succeeding Kimberly Cheatle. resigned in july Following a disastrous appearance before the House Oversight Committee regarding an assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump is expected to nominate a permanent director after taking office in late January.
He appeared before the task force To answer questions about security failures that allowed the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, to reach the rooftop very close to where Trump was speaking. The President-elect and two attendees were injured and one person was killed in the shooting.
“There was a failure by the Secret Service to adequately secure the Butler Farms show site on July 13 and protect President-elect Trump,” Rove said in an opening statement to lawmakers. “That abject failure highlighted significant shortcomings in Secret Service operations, and I believe we failed to meet the expectations of the American public, the Congress, and the people we protect, and based on the performance we have performed, they are right. “