6 Takeaways From Senate Hearing on Trump Assassination Attempt

Top FBI and Secret Service officials testified Tuesday about security failures that led to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump 17 days earlier. 

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a rare joint hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee that featured testimony from the Secret Service’s acting director, Ronald L. Rowe.

Rowe, previously deputy director, took over for Kimberly Cheatle after she stepped down as Secret Service director July 23, one day after a bruising House oversight hearing. 

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FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate, who also testified, gave the Senate committees some details about the time line before the shooter opened fire July 13 at the campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One bullet grazed Trump’s right ear at about 6:11 p.m.; another killed firefighter Corey Comperatore. The gunman also wounded two other rallygoers.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., last week established a special task force to investigate the Trump assassination attempt. 

Here are six top takeaways from the two Senate panels’ hearing. 

1. ‘Cannot Defend Why That Roof Was Not Better Secured’

Rowe and other Secret Service agents visited the site of the campaign rally in Pennsylvania after the fact. He said he climbed onto the rooftop where the 20-year-old gunman fired at Trump. 

“I went to the roof of the AGR building where the assailant fired shots and I laid in a prone position to evaluate his line of sight. What I saw made me ashamed,” Rowe said during his opening remarks.  

“As a career law enforcement officer and a 25-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured,” he added. 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., later pushed Rowe on the point. 

“My understanding is there is a detailed site survey that is done prior to an event to identify potential threat points,” Peters said, adding: “How did that site survey get approved when it was so clear that that was a major threat from that building?”

Rowe showed large photos of the building where the shooter positioned himself, from a reenactment that the Secret Service conducted. 

“This point of view is the point of view where the countersniper team locally was posted,” Rowe added. “We were told that that building was going to be covered when our team leads met.”

To demonstrate the difficulty of the countersniper’s sight line, the next large photo from the reenactment showed a five-inch rise on the roof where the shooter fired. 

Next, Rowe showed Exhibit C.

“Shooter, no elbows, you barely make out the crown of his head,” he said. 

“Let me just tell you, our countersniper, this individual—I know him, I consider him a friend,” Rowe said. “He has covered me operationally in conflict zones and when I did my time on the president’s detail. He exemplifies the courage, the skill, and the ability to respond under great stress in such a short time to neutralize the threat and prevent further loss of life.”

Rowe, as he did at several points during the hearing, pointed to the role of local law enforcement. 

“Getting back to your questions, Senator, these are discussions that were had between the Pittsburgh field office and the local counterparts and everyone supporting that visit that day,” Rowe said. 

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., led a press conference held after the hearing by Senate Republicans. The security failures at the former president’s campaign rally make most Americans feel unsafe, he said. 

“I think it’s time to realize why this is so important to people back home. Why is this the topic of conversation?” Marshall asked. “I’ll tell you it’s because people back at home don’t feel safe.”

2. FBI’s Detailed Time Line

In presenting a time line to the two Senate committees, Abbate said the FBI interviewed more than 460 people and accessed the shooter’s electronic devices. 

“Thus far, though absolutely nothing has been ruled out, the investigation has not identified a motive nor any co-conspirators or others with advanced knowledge,” Abbate told the committees.

Abbate added that the FBI found a social media account “believed to be associated with the shooter” where he posted 700 comments in 2019 and 2020. 

“Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes, to espouse political violence, and are described as extreme in nature,” the FBI’s deputy director said. 

“While the investigative team is still working to verify this [social media] account to determine if it did in fact belong to the shooter, we believe it important to note today, we believe it important to share and note today, particularly given the general absence of other information to date from social media and other sources of information that reflect on the shooter’s potential, motive, and mindset,” Abbate said. 

Law enforcement officials first saw the shooter just before 4:30 p.m. July 13 before the campaign rally began. At 5:14 p.m., local law enforcement identified him as a suspicious person. 

A local SWAT team operator took a picture of the shooter just after 5:30 p.m. Less than half an hour later, law enforcement notified the Secret Service command post that the person was suspicious. 

Between 6:02 p.m. and 6:08 p.m., law enforcement officers lost sight of him, Abbate said. At 6:06 p.m., the shooter was on the rooftop, he said. Two minutes later, officers saw him on the roof. 

At 6:11 p.m., law enforcement radioed that this suspicious person had a gun. He fired about 30 seconds, with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear. 

A Secret Service countersniper shot and killed the gunman. Eight shell casings were found next to his body on the roof, Abbate said, so he likely fired eight rounds. 

Commenting during the press conference afterward, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, asked: “Why didn’t they remove President Trump from the stage after spectators and local law enforcement, assigned to help protect the president, had noticed that there was a guy with a rifle on a roof?”

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 its 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.”

Lawmakers, Johnson said, “need to find out literally second by second what happened.”