As far as political earthquakes go, the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate should measure about 7.5 on the Richter scale. Yet, senior Biden administration officials appear to be brushing off the July 13 attempt on the former president's life. The prevailing conspiracy theory among a subsection of Donald Trump supporters is that the failed assassination was an inside job – or at least that nobody took action to prevent it. There isn't a shred of hard evidence to support this suspicion. However, there are too many important unanswered questions, and nobody at the FBI, the Secret Service, or its parent, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), appears to be showing any sense of urgency or willingness to disclose information about the Trump shooting.
This is a posture that serves only to feed the conspiracy machine -- and that isn't good for anybody.
On July 23, Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, wrote a letter to the employees of her agency, informing them of her intention to step down. Perhaps she would argue that, by doing so, she is holding herself accountable. That's hardly good enough, though. She has not been held accountable, and neither has anybody else at the Secret Service. Cheatle’s boss, DHS Director Alejandro Mayorkas, appears to be behaving as if the Trump assassination attempt never took place. He certainly doesn't seem to feel that he bears any responsibility whatsoever.
It is true that the FBI is conducting a criminal investigation, and the Secret Service is working on a report, as well as one or more internal inquiries. When all these processes have been completed, perhaps someone, somewhere, will be singled out for a share of the blame – but probably no senior officials, except Cheatle, of course, since she has already tendered her resignation. It is also not beyond the realms of possibility that, aside from a few agents being reassigned, no one is going to go down for failing to prevent an armed attack that, if successful, could have hurled the United States into chaos.
What If?
Consider what would have happened if some lunatic had taken a shot at Joe Biden. No reasonable American can doubt that there would have been uproar on the political left. And it would have lasted for months if not years. Democrats and their sidekicks in the establishment media would be screaming about dangerous MAGA extremists and the burgeoning need to ban guns. For certain, they would be blaming Trump for his supposedly violent rhetoric. Indeed, since the attack, notable pundits viewed as mainstream have hinted that the 45th president had it coming because of some of his past statements.
In short, it is highly likely that the reaction of the administration, the establishment media, and congressional Democrats to such an attempt would have been vastly different from how they have reacted to the Trump shooting. It is only fair to add a small caveat. Some Democrats on Capitol Hill have treated the attempt on Trump's life with the weight and seriousness it deserves.
Trump Shooting Accountability Vacuum
Still, as things stand, nobody in the current administration or in the left-wing media seems to be in any great hurry to find answers and solutions. None of them appear impatient to know what went wrong on July 13, punish those responsible, and ensure that such a deadly and potentially catastrophic event never happens again.
It does not take a weeks-long investigation to answer the most crucial questions: Why was the rooftop from which the would-be assassin fired not manned? If it was included in the Secret Service overwatch plan – as Cheatle told a House committee – then why was it not being watched? How did an untrained 20-year-old with a rifle gain access to the roof, move about on it for several minutes, and then fire multiple rounds, killing one rallygoer, wounding two others, and almost taking Trump's head off?
The lack of answers to these questions, ten days after the incident, is every bit as astounding as the fact that the shooter was able to carry out his plan in the first place. Nobody at the DHS, the Secret Service, or the FBI appears in a rush to provide answers, and this lack of urgency and reluctance to cooperate with a congressional inquiry serves to nourish suspicions that the attempted murder of Donald Trump is not a priority.
As things stand, there are two extremely disturbing takeaways from the ho-hum reaction to the Trump shooting. The first is that -- no matter how reckless, unfounded, dangerous, or irresponsible one might believe the conspiracy theories to be -- they are being fueled by the inaction of senior administration officials. They don't seem particularly concerned that a former president – and current presidential candidate – was almost murdered in broad daylight at a packed rally, surrounded by Secret Service teams.
The second takeaway is every bit as concerning, if not more so. In the face of such a calamitous and appalling breakdown in security, if no one in a position of authority faces any punitive action, then, truly, the American people have a government that considers itself entirely above accountability for anything.
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