(Ken Silva, Headline USA) House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has announced that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will sit before his committee this Monday to answer questions about her agency’s stunning security failures at Saturday’s Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“We are grateful to the brave Secret Service agents who acted quickly to protect President Trump after shots were fired and the American patriots who sought to help victims, but questions remain about how a rooftop within proximity to President Trump was left unsecure,” Comer said in a Monday press release.
“Americans demand answers from Director Kimberly Cheatle about these security lapses and how we can prevent this from happening again. We look forward to Director Cheatle’s testimony this upcoming Monday, July 22.”
🚨Based on conversations with the Secret Service today, we expect Director Cheatle to appear for a @GOPoversight hearing on Monday, July 22.
The Oversight Committee will also receive a bipartisan briefing tomorrow from Secret Service.
Americans deserve answers. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/5qOB4Hehmd
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) July 15, 2024
Comer also requested records about the Trump rally, where 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks shot presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, killed a firefighter, and put at least two others in critical condition.
Comer seeks complete list of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel involved in protecting Trump at the Butler event. He also wants all audio and footage from the event, as well as any memorandum or notice issued by Director Cheatle to Secret Service personnel regarding the assassination attempt.
At this point, the Secret Service’s security failures seem inexplicable.
Channel 11 news in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania reported Monday that Crooks was spotted by law enforcement on a roof nearly 30 minutes before his attack.
“Channel 11′s Nicole Ford confirmed that Beaver County’s ESU team had eight members at the rally, including snipers and spotters. According to Ford’s sources, one of them noticed a suspicious man on a roof near the rally at 5:45 p.m., called it in and took a picture of the person. We have learned from our sources the person in that picture is Thomas Crooks. We’re told it’s not clear if Crooks had a gun with him at that point,” the local news station reported Monday afternoon.
“According to multiple sources, a law enforcement officer had also previously seen Crooks on the ground and called him in as a suspicious person with a picture prior to 5:45 p.m. Our sources tell us an officer checked the grounds for Crooks at that point, but did not see him where the first picture was taken,” the news station added.
“26 minutes after the second picture of Crooks was taken by law enforcement and the information called in, shots were fired from the roof of the American Glass Research building. Seconds later, a Secret Service sniper returned fire and killed Crooks.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
