Assassination Attempt Hearing: Progress Made and Tempers Lost

Following the ignominious departure of Kimberly Cheatle from the position of director of the US Secret Service and after her disastrous House hearing, it was the Senate's turn to get testimony on the July 13 assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump. The Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees on July 30 convened to question Ronald Rowe Jr., now the acting director of the Secret Service, and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate.

Compared to the farcical July 22 hearing for Cheatle, this latest Capitol Hill inquiry revealed that at least some progress was being made. Still, a couple of Republican senators decided to indulge in the almost obligatory grandstanding, which in one case led to a completely counterproductive shouting match.

Rowe has not officially been appointed to replace Cheatle – at least not yet. However, he brought a more cooperative attitude and some answers – or at least partial ones – to a few pertinent questions surrounding the Trump assassination attempt.

Liberty Nation News reported that the former director completely stonewalled a joint House committee. Unlike Rowe, Cheatle showed no signs of humility, nor any degree of disappointment or dismay that the agency she headed had failed so badly in its mission that a former – and possibly future – US president was almost killed. She provided no clear answers or explanations, offered no conclusions, and evaded multiple opportunities to reassure members of Congress that anyone in the Secret Service would be held accountable for mistakes.

Her successor – or temporary successor – was at least willing to assert that when internal investigations had been completed, agency personnel found at fault would face disciplinary action and possibly termination of employment. Obviously, someone from the Secret Service on the ground that day in Butler, PA, failed to carry out his or her duty adequately. This is not speculation; it's fact. After all, if nobody assigned to protect the former president had done anything wrong or made any bad decisions, then an untrained 20-year-old wouldn't have gotten off eight shots in the direction of Trump and his supporters.

Big Questions About the Assassination Attempt

Rowe conceded unequivocally that the Secret Service bore responsibility for the fatal security lapses. He also shed some light on a couple of issues that have spawned conspiracy theories, heated debate, and sheer disbelief in the media and on social media platforms.

Why had the Secret Service not deployed one or more drones for aerial coverage and reconnaissance prior to Trump's rally? According to Rowe, technical issues prevented the timely deployment of drones – until it was too late. That didn’t seem to satisfy any of the committee members present, and it appeared Rowe himself was not particularly happy that he had to provide such an answer.

Another question is, why was there no immediate action from one of the Secret Service counter-sniper teams when a gunman was spotted on the roof of a building less than 200 yards from the stage? The agency’s new boss asserted that local law enforcement did not pass on that information. If true, that was a catastrophic breakdown in communications. It remains to be seen how that blunder will be responded to at the state or local level in Pennsylvania.

As Liberty Nation News noted shortly after the assassination attempt, the big question is why the roof from which the shooter opened fire was not manned. It was never adequate that this vantage point was supposedly being observed from another location by a counter-sniper team. Rowe conceded that someone should have been posted on that roof but couldn't explain why that was not the case.

Rowe’s ability to give detailed answers to questions ended abruptly when it was Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley's turn to confront him. It is an unfortunate – and perhaps centuries-old – truth that most politicians would rather be seen doing something than actually doing something, that they are more interested in casting blame than finding solutions. Hawley repeatedly cut off the Secret Service boss in mid-sentence and seemed interested only in hearing that someone – anyone – was getting fired.

It was reminiscent of inquiries held by congressional Democrats in the days of the Trump administration. They had usually already reached a verdict, so to speak, and rarely allowed witnesses at a hearing to finish answering a question – typically because they knew the answer would contradict their own narrative.

So combative was the senator's tone that the Secret Service head – somewhat understandably, one could argue – also began to raise his voice in an effort to defend himself. For a couple of minutes, the hearing descended into a shouting match as the two men heatedly talked over one another. In the end, nothing was gained by this. Still, Hawley, who will be defending his seat in this year's general election, will be able to brag in fundraising emails that he beat up on the head of the Secret Service for the agency’s failure to protect Trump.

Facts First, Accountability Later

To be fair, no one should lose sight of the fact that this was nothing less than an assassination attempt on a former head of state – and quite possibly America's next leader. There is no way to take it lightly or brush off its significance. Ultimately, one or more Secret Service personnel – as well as local law enforcement officers – tasked with protecting Trump, should probably lose their jobs. However, investigations and inquiries do need to be completed. It is totally counterproductive to begin escorting people out of the building with their belongings in a cardboard box before those investigations have concluded.

If and when the time comes to start handing out pink slips, that's exactly what should happen. Too many people at all levels of government are never held accountable for their mistakes – and they certainly should be. Unfortunately, Hawley – and to a slightly lesser extent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) -- seemed to adopt the somewhat immature attitude that yelling at witnesses and demanding heads on spikes was more important than getting to the bottom of why the attempted assassination was allowed to take place at all.

Unfortunately, as is usually the case with the Joe Biden administration – just as it was during the Barack Obama tenure – the American public may never find the whole truth of how and why things broke down on that fateful day. At some point, no doubt, we will be treated to a heavily redacted report or two from the FBI and Secret Service. Still, neither Trump nor his supporters are ever going to allow the rest of the country to forget this one thing: After eight years of the most extreme and vitriolic rhetoric being directed at him by much of the establishment media and many prominent Democrats, an impressionable young man really did attempt to assassinate him. And this will be the case whether Trump wins or loses in November.