3. Cruz: Spokesperson ‘Lied on Behalf of the Secret Service’
Sen.
Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pushed for more information about why the Secret Service reportedly denied requests for more security from the Trump campaign—and whether the Secret Service lied about it.
“Just after the shooting, the Secret Service put out an official statement from your spokesperson that said ‘there is an untrue assertion that the former president’s team requested additional security resources, that those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false,’” Cruz said, reading the statement.
The Texas Republican then asked: “Was this tweet accurate?”
After some back and forth, Rowe, the Secret Service’s acting director, replied: “If you’re talking about Butler, Pennsylvania, all assets had been approved. If you are talking about media reporting of assets requested, there are times when assets were unavailable and not able to be filled, and those gaps were filled with state and local law enforcement.”
Cruz also read from a story in The Washington Post about the Secret Service “repeatedly denying” requests from the Trump campaign for additional protection.
Rowe said of the report: “That is not accurate, Senator.”
“Assets are requested. There is a process,” he added.
However, when asked, Rowe said he didn’t know how many requests the Trump team made for additional assets.
Rowe later said he couldn’t recall the answer to several other questions from Cruz.
Cruz, pointing to a poster board showing the wording of the Secret Service spokesperson’s tweet, asked: “Did you approve this statement when it went out?”
Rowe replied, “I don’t know if I did or didn’t.”
The spokesperson is still employed by the agency, he replied to another question.
“So he lied on behalf of the Secret Service and he still has a job,” Cruz said.
Cruz asked whether Cheatle, the agency’s former director, approved the statement.
“I don’t know if she did or did not,” Rowe replied.
Cruz: “You don’t know if you did either?”
Rowe: “I don’t recall approving it.”
Cruz later asked: “Who makes the decision to deny those requests [for more security]? Did you make that decision?”
Rowe replied, “It’s a conversation, it’s not an absolute yea or nay.”
Cruz brought up requests by independent presidential candidate
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, D-N.Y., the former U.S. attorney general who was assassinated in May 1968. (RFK Jr. is also the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated less than five years earlier.)
“Did the same person who denied the request for additional security to President Trump also deny the requests for security to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose father was murdered by an assassin and whose uncle was murdered by an assassin? Did the same person make that decision?” Cruz asked.
Rowe replied that the Secret Service is not partisan. When Cruz pressed him for a yes or no answer on whether the same person made both decisions, Rowe insisted: “Senator, that is not a yes or no question. There is a process for a candidate [or] nominee to receive protection.”
During the GOP press conference after the hearing, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said he thought the Secret Service still wouldn’t hold itself accountable for the security failures in Pennsylvania.
“All we’re asking the Secret Service is to give us their briefing,” Mullin said. “What did they break down? Where are the failure points? Because if you cannot admit you did something wrong, you’re destined to do it again.”
4. Durbin Pushes Gun Control
Senate Judiciary Chairman
Dick Durbin, D-Ill., used the hearing to push the need for more gun control.
Durbin asserted that it’s typical to see a movie where a skilled international assassin is dispatched to kill a political leader.
However, he said, in this case, “a 20-year-old, introverted college student” managed to get past a sophisticated security force and get a shot at a former president.
After making this point, Durbin quickly moved to blame the attempted assassination on the availability of guns.
“While we rely on the Secret Service to protect elected officials, we must acknowledge the unique challenges they face in light of the proliferation of weapons of war on our street,” Durbin said.
“Pennsylvania, like many states, allows individuals to openly carry a loaded rifle without a permit,” he said. “To make matters worse, assault rifles can easily be purchased from the licensed dealers without a background check because of dangerous loopholes in our gun laws.”
5. ‘No Explanation’ for Why Shooter’s Drone Worked and Secret Service’s Drone Had ‘Technical Difficulties’
Before the Trump rally, the shooter surveyed the site using a drone. Yet, the Secret Service said the drones would not work in the area.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked: “Can you explain why the shooter’s drone worked?”
Rowe replied: “There was no counter-UAS [unmanned aerial system] present.”
Cornyn asked: “You had a drone system but you had bandwidth problems. The bandwidth was adequate, apparently, for the shooter’s drone, but not for the Secret Service. Can you explain that?”
Rowe replied, “I have no explanation for it, sir.”
“In the military context,” Cornyn said, “electronic warfare or jamming capabilities are commonly used on the battlefield.”
The senior senator from Texas then asked: “Does the Secret Service have jamming capabilities for drones?”
Rowe said: “We have drones, sir. … We have technical security measures to address, I think, what you’re asking me.”
Cornyn followed by asking: “Can you take down a suspicious drone? … Do you have the capacity to stop a weaponized drone?”
Rowe said there were security matters he couldn’t talk about in a public forum.
“We have technical measures we use at permanently protected sites,” Rowe said. “We also have the ability in a limited fashion at temporary sites. What I can tell you is that on this day, the counter-UAS system had technical difficulties.”
At the press conference afterward, Cornyn said the Secret Service’s failure to answer that key question was “another one of their multiple points of failure.”
6. Ron Johnson: Lack of Transparency ‘Very Unfortunate’
Sen.
Ron Johnson, R-Wis., pointed to the photos displayed by Rowe earlier in the hearing, and questioned why the Secret Service waited so long to share them.
“I appreciate these photos today,” Johnson said. “These things could have been released in days and a whole lot more information as well.”
Near the beginning of his remarks at the Pennsylvania rally, Trump used an oversize chart depicting illegal border crossings that was created by Johnson’s office. He turned his head slightly to point to the chart.
That slight turn has been credited for Trump’s not being struck in the head by the bullet that grazed his right ear.
Johnson’s office released
preliminary findings from his office’s own investigation of the security failures July 13.
Johnson pushed for more transparency and asked for transcripts of related FBI interviews.
“Does the Secret Service use encrypted communications at events?” Johnson asked.
“The radio traffic from Butler we did not have recorded, sir,” Rowe replied.
“Do you normally?” Johnson asked.
“Not on the road outside of D.C., outside of a presidential or vice presidential stop,” Rowe answered.
Johnson said that is “very unfortunate.”
Rowe agreed, saying, “Moving forward, I’ve directed we will now start recording those.”
Johnson pressed further about Secret Service communications with local law enforcement.
“My understanding is that what was communicated was the locals had a plan and they had been there before,” Rowe replied.
Johnson, referring to Trump’s Florida home, asked: “Was there ever requested additional coverage for Mar-a-Lago?”
Rowe replied: “We have provided additional resources to Mar-a-Lago.”
Lawmaker, Johnson said, “need to find out literally second by second what happened.”
![[486]](https://data.irate4x4.com/avatars/m/0/94.jpg?1700178133){kind=avatar}
babylonbee.com
